


Distress and Coma

by AriaxCantabile



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Adventure & Romance, Akatsuki - Freeform, Love Triangles, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:50:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9113500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaxCantabile/pseuds/AriaxCantabile
Summary: Twins Ayame and Kiame have finally become accomplished shinobi among the ranks of Konohagurke; but success can only last so long. Both sisters will come to realize just what it means to be at wit's end; tragedy, love, and answers await them on their journey.





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> AN:
> 
> Hello readers!
> 
> To begin with a bit of introduction...This story is a rewrite at my first attempt of a Naruto FanFic called 'Fire and Ice' (this story can be found on my fanfiction account if you wish to compare the two...or possibly give yourself spoilers for the future. This is posted under the same account and story title, for any who would like to read there as well). For any old readers, there will be a few new plot additions and chapters (and definitely more development in terms of the characters themselves)-so hopefully you will find this newer version to be a bit more enjoyable to read (that's the hope, anyway). To the new readers/followers, I really hope you enjoy this version. To all else, thank you for your curiosity.
> 
> As a word of caution: to any who may be offended by language, sexual content, and a multitude of pairings, well...I have rated this fanfiction 'M' for a reason; if you are offended by these, well, unfortunately this story may not be for you.
> 
> As a side note, I do not own Naruto or the characters within, but those of my own creation, I do.
> 
> Thank you to any and all for reading this story-I hope you enjoy!
> 
> ~Aria

* * *

 

 

_**Ayame** _

 

My eyes opened slowly, uncomfortably. I don't recall having ever gone to sleep, but the aching in my head told me otherwise. Above me, a bright, sickly colored moon lit the sky-the silence of night resting around the space I laid in. _'Odd…just a few minutes ago I was laying in my room…'_ The horizon in which the moon now rested was painted an ominous shade of gold with dark, multicolored clouds circling around its center.

I rolled my head to the side; ancient trees surrounded the clearing I now laid in, forming a huge castle-like barrier of oak and leaves. Long, gross looking vines hung down from the withered branches-at first, I thought they were snakes, but after wiping my eyes, their vegetation told me otherwise. ' _Ah…definitely a dream then…'_ I watched in awe as the breeze rustled the upper canopies of the giants, causing pairs of dead leaves to fall gracefully to the floor below. The scene they created was so beautiful, it was almost as if I were watching a pair of dancers glide through on the dance floor; dipping, twirling then gently bowing as they departed on the grass beneath.

 

* * *

 

_**Akatsuki Base, Kimigaugkre, 23:06** _

__

"Itachi, have you located the objectives?" Pain asked, pausing briefly before the dark-haired Uchiha. Itachi sat on the ground, encircled by the remaining members of the Akatsuki. His Sharingan clad eyes were closed in deep concentration, while both hands were held before his face in a prayer-like stance.

"No." He answered, somewhat annoyed.

A sigh came from the crowd, followed by a statement somewhere around the words of _pointlessness_ and _useless._

The orange haired man whom had been pacing the circle of Akatsuki members stopped again, turning to face the voice which had broken the silence. Calmly, he stated an issue of silence, then continued his stalking around the group.

"I don't see how these girls we are trying to locate could possibly compare to the Jinchuriki we've been tracking down." Surrounding members agreed with the Hidan's whinny complaints. "Besides, Zetsu could have found them more efficiently than Itachi. This mission is a waste of our efforts and fucking t-"

Pain raised his hand, cutting off his statement. The serene look he had worn during his pacing and thought had fallen to a mask of annoyance. "You have spoken out of term, Hidan. This mission," He glanced around to each member, glaring. Hidan made a move to argue, but Sasori nudged him before he could continue. "I assure all of you, is of great significance."

"Hidan-sama does has a point," Deidara cut in, "Zetsu could have already located and captured these girl's in question, hmmm."

"Indeed, Zetsu would be ideal for an assignment of this caliber, but Itachi's Sharingan makes him useful for communicating with the targets through means other than confrontation." Pain explained, "This is the safest way to go about connecting with our targets; we cannot afford to let them discover our location, be it Zetsu failed. It's an unlikely scenario, but it still remains a possibility." He continued, "They are both of higher ranking shinobi status; it's too risky sending one member to take care of two targets-not right now, anyway. Not to mention the rescue group they are sure to send after their attempted kidnapping, nor the ANBU, who are already on high alert after the recent attack on Konoha. We've been too careless lately-we need precaution."

Deidara bowed his head, cheeks blushing in embarrassment. "..Just saying, un."

"I've found them." Itachi announced, opening his eyes.

"Well done, proceed with stage one." Pain replied, resuming his walk around the group.

 

* * *

 

 **Ayame**  
**  
**

The silent breeze suddenly picked up, whipping my hair around my face. I rose from my burrow in the grass, abruptly startled by the sight before me. All of the wondrous and mighty trees that had once towered over the clearing were now leafless and shriveled; the grass had become brittle and yellow, breaking at my touch. The sky was now pitch black, the once bright moon replaced with a sinister looking lunar eclipse.

I closed my eyes, silently hoping that I could wake myself. In my experience, when a nightmare began, it was almost like a genjutsu-it needed to be broken, and fast. Otherwise everything would start getting out of hand, out of my control, and I'd be trapped. When I opened my eyes once more, it appeared as if the morbid display before me had only gotten worse. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of black crows now filled the limbs of the rotting trees, their scarlet eyes watching me from all positions; unblinking, and unwavering. ' _Come on…'_ From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of one of the birds taking flight, its ink-like wings growing larger and more blade-like with each and every stroke. _'Wake up before this turns into another nightmare, you idiot!'_

It then raced by me; one of its razor-like talons slicing the flesh of my cheek. Hot, metallic liquid instantly seeped from the wound, spilling down my face. The crow then doubled back, circling above me-waiting for my next move. I inched backwards, trying to escape its next round, but my body felt as if it wasn't responding well to my commands. Every limb felt like it had been weighed down with lead, and my head felt foggy-making thought almost impossible. ' _It's still not breaking_ … _'_ The crow followed my pace, now joined by several others. ' _Just focus…focus on breaking the dream.'_ I lifted my hands up to protect my head-which took much more of an effort than it should have-and closed my eyes-trying to shield myself from their incoming talons.

They swarmed me, their beaks and claws digging into the exposed flesh on my arms and legs. I could feel the blood drenching my clothes and skin, though the adrenaline kept me from losing balance. A familiar feeling of loneliness dawned on me as I felt my knees begin to shake.  
I was alone again; no one would be here to wake me from this bloody onslaught, no one would come to my aid and keep me from experiencing that familiar feeling of dying- no one would be there to comfort me when I'd wake in my room covered in sweat and tears-just me. I'd be alone, with the thoughts, the sleepless nights-which have been trying their best to resurface for the past month-and the crippling feeling of weakness. ' _This is what you deserve…'_ I couldn't help but smile at the more cynical side of myself. ' _You couldn't break the dream, and now you get to endure it-alone.'_

I opened my eyes; had the attacks had stopped? Moving my head to the side, I noticed that a puddle of blood had now formed around my body, causing the surrounding grass and leaves to stick to my already damp skin.

I growled and bit my lower lip to fight back the pain as I slowly lowered my arms from my face. This was one hell of a dream... Using what little strength I could muster, I averted my gaze to the other side of the forest-fresh blood spilling from my neck and down my chest. The crows had flown over to the opposite side of the clearing; and from the looks of it, it appeared as though they were joining together. At first they seemed to simply be a pit of growing darkness, swirling and cawing at each other; but slowly, gradually, they began to morph into a figure; a man, from the looks of it anyway.

He had layered black hair, a crimson band holding what looked like longer sections of hair back against the nape of his neck. His visible skin was pale, almost white in contrast to the darkness of the clearing. Long bangs and high cheekbones outlined the definition of his face, while a pair of deep tear troughs bordered the underside of his bright, red eyes. From this distance, I couldn't tell if the eyes were dream-induced (despite having never seen this man before), contacts, or some sort of Kekkei Genkei. A worn Konohagurke ninja protector was bound across his forehead-though a deep gash was gouged across the emblem, symbolizing a broken tie with the village. ' _Rouge ninja?'_ Over his torso, he wore a long, tall-necked black cloak adjourned with numerous red and white clouds. ' _Cultist?'_

"Who are you?" I whispered, darkness beginning to creep into my line of vision. Great, I really _was_ dying.

"No one of importance." His dark, stoic voice answered.

I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, "Then why are you here?"

"I am here to deliver a message to you."

-"...Not interested." My eye twitched as my voice began to break.

"Are you sure?" I could hear a hint of…maybe humor, or just surprise, in his voice as the continued. "Would you still say no even if it involved you and your sister, Kiame?"

If ever there was a sore spot, well…it would be involving my sister. Not many from the village knew of her, not as my twin, anyway-that's how the ANBU wanted it, thus that's how it was kept. Ties within the village only created weakness for enemies to follow up on-so why have relations when it's best to kept yourself hidden from the public eye? The question remained, however-how in the world did he know of Kia? "I don't know who you're talking ab-"

-"We will be coming for you and your sister, Ayame."

 

* * *

 

**Kiame**

I looked around, lost by all of the thick foliage around me. _'When did I get here?'_ I wondered, gazing around at the possible directions stretched out among the clearing. Left looked promising, the trail ahead looked a little more worn-so at least there had been people travelling this way. As for the right or middle, both looked unused and over-run by vines and bushes-therefore less people, possible danger, but that did nothing to answer where I was. I approached the middle path, removing a kunai to cut away some of the more obtrusive vines, when a bright flash of light suddenly raced in front of my face.

I looked up, relieved to see one of my glowing chakra phoenixes soaring high above my head. Instinctively, I pushed my psyche into the phoenix, gazing out to the treetops and mountains with my newly attuned eyes. It had been awhile since I had been on a mission in which I had to use one of my phoenixes, so the sudden altitude and mental change felt a little more jarring than usual. I took a deep breath and pushed my new self forward, following its already predestined flight pattern. There was no feeling in the world like that of soaring through the sky...

Here, I didn't have any humanly bound restrictions; I was the one looking down at the earth, I was the one soaring and screeching into the sky, I was the one who was free. ' _Ah…I forgot how amazing this was.'_

It swooped low, dipping into a clearing not far from where I stood, then veered back up into the sky-my physical self's stomach churned a little, but it was slowly getting the hang of it. The scout then circled around the clearing again, interested by two figures who were now inhabiting its center. Both figures were dressed in black cloaks that had a red and white cloud pattern on them; I could tell by their appearance, however, that one was a man, and the other a woman. One figure, the one closest to the tree line, was stretched out on the ground, possibly asleep-or sick? It was hard to tell. A twinge of recognition was brought up by his face-although I couldn't possibly guess why. Not many men sported a Konohagukre hiate with a slashed symbol on their foreheads-at least, not any that I could readily remember from our 'Bingo' books. Uninterested, the phoenix only lingered over him for a moment, and instead soared to the other figure.

The woman pushed a pair of long brown bangs away from her familiar face, and looked up at the scout. Recognition suddenly dawned on me. That was Ayame…That was my sister.

She smiled once, recognizing the creature, but the smile didn't quite seem to reach her eyes, in fact, she seemed almost…sad to see it? I tried to get my scout closer-so it could communicate with her, find out what was wrong and why she, too, had the slash across her headband-but before I had the chance to do or say anything, something extinguished my creature, sending my mind spiraling back into my body.

The breath that had been filling my lungs suddenly choked me, making me gasp and wheeze. Between breaths, I looked around, fully expecting my body to be on the ground-lying where I had stood not a moment before, but instead, I was welcomed by the plush familiarity of my bed.

I tried to push myself up, but I was already sitting upright-to the point it could almost hurt my back, with the remnants of my bed sheets tangled around my legs. I sighed, wiping some sweat from my forehead-my heart was beating painfully in my chest, but as least I was no longer in that creepy forest.

Another deep breath escaped as I laid back against my pillows, trying to steady myself. It had all been a dream: a very weird dream, albeit, but a dream all the same… _'I'd been awhile since I'd had one so vivid…'_ I of my sister and her sad expression dawned on me just as my eyes began to close-why would my dream show my sister as a rouge ninja? Ayame was just promoted to ANBU Capitan, there's no way she would just up and leave her village, leave me?

Then it hit me… _'Where's Ayame?'_

I shoved my blankets off of my legs and stood-they still felt a little shaky, but I had to make sure Aya was okay before I went back to sleep-otherwise the dreams would only continue. Quietly making my way across the room, I pushed open my door, making sure the wood didn't creak as it normally did on my entry. I frowned as my feet touched the chill of our wooden boards-they were colder than they had been when we'd left for bed.

Holding my breath, I walked forward until I reached her room near the end of the hall. Careful, again, not to touch the door, I peered through the small crack she had left between the frame and lock; in hindsight, it took everything in me not to giggle when I saw her actually laying there. Her dark brown hair was fanned out across her pillow, and her blankets had long been kicked to the floor. I held back the motherly urge to sneak into her room and fix what little cover she still had, not just out of the fact that she would be cold, but because I knew that if I did it would wake her; Ayame had always been a light sleeper, after all.

Aya suddenly mumbled something in her sleep as I pulled away from her door. Vaguely, I wondered if she was having another nightmare-something she had grown accustomed to having after a particularly grueling or long mission, but brushed it aside as she quieted back down. I didn't need to tell her the events of my dream just yet; she deserved to have a good night's rest.

 

* * *

__

_**Ayame** _

 

My eyes shot open. Half of me was fully expecting to find the same rotted clearing stretched out in front of me, but instead I was welcomed by the familiar paneling of my bedroom ceiling.

I pushed myself up off my mattress, trying my best not to cry out in pain; every muscle in my back and shoulders screamed with ache and tiredness-not from the dream, but from the recon mission I'd just gotten home from. ANBU, well…specifically my team, had been stationed on the outskirts of a village near the border of the Land of Fire. There had been a few hostilities and kidnappings of town officials, and though this, at first, seemed like a mission for a Chunin or Jonin squad, things started to go downhill when more and more hostages began appearing. Ransoms, gangs, and murders started to break out on the east side of the village-the grand scheme of our objective wasn't a peace-keeping mission, however.

My squad was deployed to retrieve a collection of scrolls from the Council Elders home, which contained some rather…descriptive accounts of a nearby Sound villages trade routes and exchanges. We escaped with pretty much no issues, thankfully. Two or Three Jonin level squads were deployed to cover our retreat and start peace treaties with the rioters while those in my squad were meant to follow-up on the leads we had received while still undercover.

My squad did just that and followed the leads back to a small outpost, again, near the border. I should have foreseen the ambush, now that I look back on how easy the information had been to retrieve, but with the time constraints and group I had been paired with-the last thing on my mind was a planted scroll. Well…Long story short, my team was badly injured (no deaths, this time), our information was proved false, and my ass was handed to me during my mission summary-along with a nice disciplinary training session and formal paperwork to finish before my next departure, in three days' time.

I gritted my teeth and kicked the last of my blankets onto the floor, with effort, I managed to push my body up and into a standing position. Slowly, I staggered my way to my dresser, trying my best not to allow my back or shoulders to jar as each step brought me closer to my mirror.

The reflection that stared back at me was tired-much too tired to be standing as she was. My normally straight brown hair was wrapped in sweaty strips around my face, mostly sticking to my forehead and neck. I scoffed and pulled the strands away, gently pushing them back and away from my face. Hesitantly, I reached up and touched the skin beneath my eyes-everything here was purple, black, and thin-again, lack of sleep. The only thing I actually found _comforting_ about my parallel self was the fact that the gashes I had received during my dream hadn't carried over to reality-that was nice.

I let out a long breath and wiped away some sweat from my forehead. "You are fine, Ayame. Quit worrying." I mumbled, "You know that both you and Kiame will be just fine. It was just a weird dream, nothing to worry about…"

From the next room over, I could hear Kiame sleeping-well, snoring-blissfully unaware that her sister was listening in on her. I smiled a little, it really would be like Kia to be so sound asleep-hell, she should be; she didn't deserve the nights of aches and pains that the ANBU had to offer.

Ever since both Kiame and I were children, she had always been the playful, talkative little sister that everyone could relate to and love-this was just who she was. Granted, it was also her role-as my father would have put it-but Kiame took to the part well. Kiame was a very celebrated and intelligent child-she excelled in her courses, she worked hard, and never had much to say in protest.

Now, all of this was not to say that Kia doesn't have a bad side either, she had-and still has-plenty of those, but overall, my sister is pretty well-liked among the village. Being a newly appointed Jonin has been a great experience for her as well-granted, I didn't entirely like all of the missions she was being assigned (the peace-keeping at the border, for example), but she seemed happy, and that was good enough for me. As for myself, and as I've said before, I'm a newly appointed ANBU Black Ops Captain and RECON division operative. The two of us have totally different jobs, but it's worked out for the best in our particular case. Kiame is the sister to be known and involved around the village, while I am the one to work behind the scenes-it's been our roles since birth, and has still seemed to work out for us now.

I brought a towel up to my face, trying my best to scrub the dirt and grime from my skin. Not that I was particularly dirty or anything, but because it felt like the film of grass and metallic smells were still lingering there, just below the surface.

Pushing aside the memories of both mine and my sisters past, I focused again on the message the man had given during my dream; if the ANBU has taught me anything already, it's that dwelling on what happened during our childhood won't fix what happens now, it only causes more problems.

_**"We will be coming for you and you sister, Ayame."** _

As far as I know, Kiame and I have never had any relations with rouge ninja. Kioshi, our father, may be a different story, but he's been dead for at least nine years now-any matters there should already be resolved. A catalog of the Black Op's Bingo Book came to mind, but being on disciplinary leave meant just that-no access to archives and files, unless a mission calls for it.

' _Ugh…'_ I shook my hands through my hair.

Someone who was coming after you would at _least_ have enough common sense not to tell you they were going to do so, wouldn't they? That would only give you time to defend yourself against their attack, or a multitude of other options-I mean, it didn't make any sense.

Then again, they could already be set-up to launch an attack on Kiame on myself-unlikely, but it could still be a possibility. Tsunade had strengthened her seals and barriers around the village after she was appointed Hokage-not to mention the security near the walls of Konoha. If they were here-even the slightest possibility-they would have to have groups already stationed here, at least if they wanted access to the village.

I clenched my teeth and stormed over to my window. Of all of the things I needed, this was definitely not one of them…ANBU would probably have an archive open this late at night, but I doubt anyone I'd know would be around-or willing-to help me sneak out a few files on rouge ninja and criminals. Groveling to my appointed officer was definitely not an option either-both for pride and job circumstance.

' _Hm…'_ Pushing a layer of chakra into the muscles in my back, I sucked in a breath and leapt outside-releasing them both as my feet landed in the cold grass below. As long as I could push chakra into my wounds, they theoretically shouldn't open. It would be annoying to keep the chakra flow steady enough to prevent the skin from reopening, and even still I'm pretty sure a few tore when I landed, but it would be a better option than bleeding out every time I attempted to move.

The cool night breeze swept over me as I looked around-as long as I made it into the archives within the next two hours I should be okay-patrols don't switch for officers until around 4 am, and Ruki shouldn't be patrolling until around then. I took a long steadying breath, pushing more chakra into my back, and broke out into a full blown run.

 


	2. Infiltration

 

* * *

__

__**Ayame**  
  


I came to a slow hault as I approached the familiar path towards my Black Ops sector. This particular base was located near the eastern side of Konoha, just below the wall that made up the Hokage monument. The surrounding trees and rock-facing made this area quite unnoticeable, especially since the base is located on the further side of the village; in fact, this sector was one of the only ones located in this way. As far as I had been informed, the only other bases consisted of the underground Hokage base (the base where most everyone attained equipment and such-in other words, the _Entrance_ sector), the western black ops (this particular location) and two others on the East and North. The South, as far as we knew, was covered by an organization called 'Root'.

It didn't seem like many groups were on patrol tonight-maybe two, or three, gauging by their chakra signatures. I ducked down into a nearby collection of rocks and hedges-if I wanted to get in there and get out quickly, I needed a seal. ANBU sometimes used this method in their more…troublesome missions-such as when a prisoner, hostage, or objective needed to be transported to safety without risk of either party's well-being or capture. In short, this assured that there was indeed an escape, even in a really pinched situation.

I pulled some sticky paper from my shuriken pouch and placed it on the surface of one of the rocks. ' _Hopefully the dew won't make it too damp,' I_ thought, _'That'd be the last thing I need…'_ In order to make sure the seal couldn't be found by an enemy, the user places a binding kanji on both the paper, and their wrist-making the seal only visible and accessible to the creator. Granted-the bindings _could_ be extracted, no jutsu was perfect, but this made the seal appear harmless, at least to one who wasn't entirely educated on the technique.

I bit into my thumb and wrote the appropriate ties to both myself and the paper, then finished the seal with the corresponding transportation signs and chakra bindings. At least with this, I'd have a security blanket be it things went wrong.

I took a deep breath and glanced around; fog was starting to roll in through the forest floor- _good, that'd make a good cover_. The moon was barely visible over the treetops-again, good-I didn't need the light to see nor did I need the distraction of having to constantly hide from the bright patches a full moon would make. Two of the three squads I'd sensed from before were beginning to move-switching patrols, it seemed like. Carefully, I pushed myself up off of the ground and towards the hidden entrance. There would probably be a few operatives stationed here-but one or two men shouldn't be a problem-theoretically.

I moved along the trees shadows, purposefully keeping my back close to the trunks and rocks-it was doubtful they had a watchman patrolling the trees at this hour-Ruki was supposed to be stationed to the West wing anyway, nothing to worry about there. As I closed in on the opening in the rock face, I could make out the figures of two men standing along the wall-both bored, but with hands stationed on either side of their weapons. ' _Great,'_ I pressed myself closer to the elm against my left. ' _Since when did they start stationing weapons specialists at gates..?_ '

This could be very problematic. Each of the men in front of me probably had enough poison coated on their weapons to kill a horse-let alone a shinobi. I looked around, searching my possibilities. ' _I could use a transformation clone then jump the two of them…both patrols won't circle back this way for at least another twenty minutes…'_ I shook my head. ' _No. That won't work-I can't risk one of them calling for help. Hmm…I could use a water transportation…but still, not the best idea.'_ I let loose a slow, controlled breath. _'It would help immensely if I knew what ANBU these were, but their masks don't seem familiar.'_ Gently, I let my knees loosen-allowing my body to slowly sink into the grass; I needed time to formulate a plan-and fast.

 

* * *

 

__**Akatsuki**  
  


"You both will report back within a week of departure-understood?" Pain stated, handing each member their scrolls and files.

Itachi glanced down at the paper in his hands, nodding. Leader had already mentioned a little about the twins-their characteristics, their location and weaknesses-but he'd failed to mention their past, the thing that seemed to make them so vital to Akatsuki. The Sharingan user glanced over the separate files; one Jonin, one ANBU, both twin sisters and heirs to a long forgotten clan in Konoha. The water user was a special recon member, newly appointed into the Black Ops, and the fire user was a poison specialist-also newly appointed in her position. It made sense why Pain chose him and Kisame for this assignment; one fire and water nature to counter the other, or so it seemed.

The tall Mist-nin beside the Uchiha began to chuckle. "And you want us to bring them back alive, right?" Kisame's blue fingers scrolled through his files quickly, then tossed them back at their Leader's feet. "You know we can't make that promise."

The orange-haired man before them scowled. "You can, Kisame," His bright purple eyes turned to Itachi.  
"From what I've heard, one is already injured from a mission she'd been on near the border. If you leave now, reaching them by nightfall shouldn't be of issue."

Again, the Uchiha nodded. "Hai."

Pain waved his hand, "Dismissed."

 

* * *

 

__**Ayame**  
  


' _You know, in hindsight, I probably should have just taken one of Kiame's poisoned pouches…'_ I sighed, laying my head back against the tree. ' _Then I could just tranquilize these idiots…'_

The patrol had already made their rounds once, but much to my dismay, neither team switched positions with the other-they simply relayed their findings or updates and made their way back down their path. _'I could just take out a patrol squad.'_ I watched as they walked by my hiding place in the trees. ' _But then again, there's no guarantee that they'd leave to check on them either.'_

I looked up-the moon was slowly moving towards the western horizon, meaning daybreak would be soon. ' _Well, now or never…'_ Quietly, I made signs for a kagebunnshin-no-jutsu. At this point, it would just be better to take out the ones at the entrance-I had the transportation if needed, and I had to get through those doors one way or another. The three Ayame's stared back at me, awaiting orders, "Alright," Over the first and second, I changed their appearance-one with short blonde hair, the second with medium black hair, and gave them each a piece of my clothing-one my jacket, the other my long sleeve shirt-at least this made them look different enough from both myself and each other. "Take your top and tuck it into your pants," I pointed to the blonde, "And you, take the jacket and tie it over your shoulders." Both nodded and did as they were told. The third Ayame looked at me expectantly-"You're going to help me take out the one on the left." She nodded.

As the two patrols passed by, I put my plan into motion. Both Aya one and Aya two walked forward from the trees, giggling to each other as if they had a secret…or were possibly drunk. The ANBU guard on the left looked to the one on his right, whom had already tightened his hold on his katana. "Is there something we can help you ladies with?"

"Y-Yes," Aya one laughed, almost tripping. "M-My sister and I w-were at the bar and w-we can't seem to find our w-way home."

The second Ayame began cackling, "She _means_ to say," She staggered, "We're both hammered and need some… _escorts_ to take us home."

' _Ugh,'_ I rolled my eyes, ' _That may have been a bit much…'_

The ANBU with the katana suddenly lowered his hand from his blade, catching the black-haired girl just as she was about to fall over. "Alright," He looked to his partner, clearly annoyed. "Call Yori and Satsuma back over here-they can take care of this."

Just as the second made a move to touch the radio along his neck, my third clone appeared behind him-stabbing him in the head with the butt of his own sword. The first's eyes widened, but closed as I appeared behind him with my hand latched around his mouth, "Don't even think about screaming." I whispered, pressing my hand harder into his nose. He struggled, but didn't get very far with both my clone and myself holding his limbs down. After about 15 seconds of writhing, he slowed, then eventually slumped back into my torso-out cold.

Both my clones and myself laid the men to the side, well away from the doors entrance, before the three dissipated into puddles of water. ' _That worked better than I'd expected,'_ I mused, approaching the cavern's entrance.

I dispelled the illusions around the rock face, and entered through the bolted doors. If my guess was correct, I had about 8 minutes to retrieve the book, then get out before either the patrolmen find their allies unconscious-or the unconscious men wake up. Carefully, I ducked around in the shadows created along the walls, trying to keep myself low and out of sight. If memory served me, the archives should be across from the gathering/training hall-near the weapons storage room. There would definitely be guards stationed there-there always was, but if I could sneak through in one of the ducts or locker areas I should make it both in and out on time.

I stopped at the threshold of the doors on my left. ' _Might as well go ahead and get into the ducts and go from there; it'd be better than continuing through the shadows.'_ A quick chakra scan of the room told me no one was currently inside-good.

I stood and slipped in along the door-carefully closing it behind me. This was one of the various strategy rooms-where groups would meet to discuss mission plans or training regiments. ' _Ah,'_ the duct was stationed near the lower corner of the room, ' _There you are.'_

Quickly, I dove down and wove a series of hands signs- weakening the seals placed on the duct. If there was one thing the ANBU was, it was definitely prepared-I've learned my lesson early on. Once the seal was down, I pushed chakra into my fingertips, using them to remove the screws holding the edges of the metal frame into place.

' _Hmm…now that I'm looking at it…'_ The duct itself didn't seem quite large enough for me to move through-not as easily as I needed, anyway. With another series of hand signs, I summoned one of my water clones-only this one was in the form of a cat, rather than myself. ' _I wish I actually had time to think this stuff through…'_ Unlike Kiame, my experience with nature summons is quite low-I never really have a use for them, especially not in ANBU-it's either do it yourself or not at all. The small water generated feline looked up at me, awaiting its orders. "Hopefully my chakra will stay stable enough for you to help me…" I mumbled to it. The cats ears twitched and I sighed. "Alright, I need you to go up through these ducts and find the archives. The book I need is small, grey, and has no pictures on it, though there are many in it."

The cat leapt into the duct and began walking into the shafts. Unfortunately, I lack the coordination and chakra control required to be able to attune my eyes into the small creature-again, summons just weren't my thing. Therefore, my creature would be travelling blind, and I would be awaiting its return-good outcome or not.

 

* * *

 

_**Kiame** _

__

I sighed and rolled over-trying to get the sunlight away from my eyes. It looked a little later than usual outside, at least from what my curtains could tell me-maybe 8 or 9? _'Come on…it's still too early to get up…'_ My head was pounding, I guess from last night's nightmare. ' _Ugh…'_ I pushed myself up, rubbing my temples with my fingers. ' _I wonder if Aya is up yet.'_

In spite of the fact that my sister was a light sleeper, she had this singular ability to sleep for days on end (sometimes even weeks), then go for about the same amount of time awake. Medic ninja didn't necessarily label her with insomnia-considering she could sleep for such long periods without waking-but they did try to give her medicine for it when she was younger. Now that I think about it, it was almost as though her body could store the sleep for times when it was really needed, like hibernation in a way, but then stay awake when it felt fully restored or healed. _'You know, that probably helped contribute to her rank and admission into ANBU-shinobi who didn't need sleep would probably be preferable, next to a robot.'_

I kicked off my blankets and rolled out of bed, trying to listen for Ayame—when I heard no response, I grabbed a set of pillows from my bed and walked down the hall. If she wasn't awake…well, I'd be damned if I had to wait any longer to tell her about this dream-she'd wake up soon enough.

' _Hmm…'_ I stopped outside of her door, glancing in her room. Her blankets were thrown in a pile beside her bed, and her sheets were tangled up around her pillows. I sighed and walked over to her window, which had somehow been opened in the night, and touched it lightly with my fingertips. The wood was slightly damp, and cold-so she had left sometime before the dew fell this morning-I'm guessing around two or three. I clicked my tongue, _'I'm pretty sure when I checked on her it was around one or two…she must have left right after, then.'_

I tossed my pillows aside and ducked through her window, beginning my long walk to our families training ground. For some reason Ayame always went there, even when she was little, to clear her head or get away-if she had left during the night, the best bet I had at finding her would be to search the grounds first.

 

* * *

 

 

__**Ayame**  
  


The seal on my arm faded as I landed against the wall of a tree. Pain radiated down through my back and legs-making the air in my lungs come in short, labored breaths. The chakra I originally had supporting the wounds on my spine had begun to fade, making fresh blood surface and stain my clothes _. 'At this point, I'm going to have to go to the medic ninja at the Hokage building to heal these-be it I could actually make it there_.' Heaving, I pushed myself out of the base of the oak and stiffened my legs, trying not to fall. In the distance, I could feel a few chakra signatures moving my way, and fast.

Clenching my teeth, I began to move towards the forests center-at this point there was no hope of me being able to outrun them, not with these wounds. Right now, my best bet would be to try to throw them off of my trail- _try_ being the penultimate word. With the last half of my chakra, I summoned three clones-ordering them to disperse in different directions than my own. I leapt up into a nearby tree and leaned against a sturdy branch-attempting to steady my breath. My clones would be just as weak as I am, so I doubt they could make it far before my pursuers would catch up to them-but at least they could buy me some time.

Gingerly, I reached into my Kunai pouch, retrieving the Bingo Book I'd stashed from the archives. ' _Note_ _to self, remind Kiame to go over her summoning jutsu with me again, so that way I don't get caught next time…'_

The Bingo Book was originally a rouge-ninja guide that each team would be dispersed during missions or ANBU admittance, but since the Third Hokage's death, they took away each officers copy and keep only one updated version in the archives. It wasn't that the attack on Konoha had anything to do with the revoking of member copies, it was the fact that our teams were being kidnapped for information that Konoha had-such as the Bingo Book.

As I glanced over the pages, I was reminded of a few of the men and women whom had made it into this book; Orochimaru and Kabuto being one. The beginning of the book began with the highest ranking rouge-ninja; Swordsmen from the Mist, a few gang leaders, then…wait. A young man with black hair and red eyes was shown on the page. He looked much younger in this photo, about 13 if I had my guess, but it was undeniably him. ' _Level Classified, Rouge shinobi Itachi Uchiha wanted for genocide, murder, and espionage-considered highly dangerous, do not engage.'_ I could feel my eyes widen-how in the world was this man in my dream, when I had never seen him before last night? More importantly, what did an S-class criminal killer want with me? Or Kiame?

I scoffed, fighting the urge to tear the page out-all of this trouble just to find out the guy's name. Tucking the book back into my pouch, I took a deep breath-at least a name was something. From the looks of it, two of my three clones had been found and eradicated; the third was still on the run, but she was being tailed by four different squads now.

Biting back a scream, I fell to the ground below, trying my best not to jar my back. A small amount of chakra had returned, though it was still too minuscule to do anything with. ' _If I could at least make it to my training grounds, then I should be able to keep the other squads busy just as my third clone would be found-that'd be…Damn.'_  
  
A man wearing the traditional ANBU garb and mask stood before me, blocking the line between the woods and the nearby hills leading to my home. On his back, he wore two long katanas, his signature weapon among the ANBU-again, great.

"Ayame, stop, and hand over the book."

I forced a laugh, trying my best to keep my composure. "You and I both know that if I give you it, they will still come after me, Ruki."

The sandy haired man removed his mask, revealing a pair of bright green eyes. He sighed, exasperated, and put a hand on his hip. I wasn't in the mood to fight with a teammate, but if he was going to keep me here, or attempt to take me in for this…well, he'd better prepare a good argument. "Then cooperate, Ayame." He sighed, "You're already in a huge amount of trouble as it is."

"I needed this." I reached back into my pouch and tossed the book at his feet, wincing. "I think I've been contacted by one of the bounties."

Ruki's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward to pick it up. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

The ANBU began to move closer to me, but I took a step back. Ruki was my friend, but I know what he is capable of-be it you get too close. He was an officer the same as me, after all. "Who?"

"Itachi Uchiha."

Ruki's green eyes widened. I didn't quite expect that reaction. "A…" His voice-normally low and focused, wavered, "Are you sure?"

"Page eleven," I gestured to the book. "There's no mistaking it."

Ruki flipped through the book to the page I'd said and frowned. "If he's contacted you, Ayame…" He dropped the book and looked up to me, eyes suddenly hard. "We need to go to Tsunade-sama. Now."

I fought back a laugh. "It's not that bi-"

The ANBU was suddenly in front of me, close enough for me to smell his breath. His hand was clasped tightly around my arm, grounding me. "Do you not know what he did when he came the last time?"'

I winced. "Look, Ruki, jus-"

"Ayame," His hand tightened, "This man is an S-class criminal, and he is after you." His face moved closer, "Are you really going to just be blind to this?"

The image of Kakashi and Sasuke lying still in hospital beds suddenly came to me-but the idea of Kiame lying like this, vulnerable, knowing it'd be my fault-made something in my stomach churn. "I'm still not going to bother Tsunade with this." He opened his mouth to interrupt, "But…I'll tell Anko…possibly Ibuki."

I saw his green eyes calculating me, mulling it over. "You need to tell Nishinoya as well."

The pressure on my arm slowly lessened. "…Fine."

 

* * *

 

__**Kiame**  
  


I looked up at the sky and smiled; it had been so peaceful these past few years with my sister. She and I had been working so hard, both in our work and home lives, to achieve a state where we could be happy; be together. In fact, in these past few months, Ayame and I had both been promoted-me to Jonin, and her to an ANBU Captain. It was probably one of the happiest days in my life—my sister was a little hesitant to accept it at first, but she seems to be getting used to the idea now.

As I moved up the hill, I felt the hairs on my arms begin to stand-it was fall here in Konoha, but there was no reason why it should be any colder than the fifties right now; yet, as I made my way up and over into the edge of the training area, I could begin to see my breath-in the thirties then? I pulled my spare daggers back out of my pockets and took in a deep breath-Ayame was here, I could feel her chakra signature, but what the hell was this ice doing all over the place?

When I broke through the last of the tree line, I could only see frost and lonely little icicles hanging from branches and trunks, almost as if they were some sort of wintery decoration. Right now, it looked as if a blizzard had struck the center of the clearing ahead, then exploded-making everything around here look like it was burned with ice and wind. As I continued inward, I could see clear shards of ice sticking out of various places in the ground. ' _Note to self; avoid those.'_

"Ayame?!" There was no response, "Ayame where are you?!" I paused as I saw a trail of blood leading up to the base of a huge, frozen oak tree. Panic began building in my chest, "Ayame, answer me now!"

"Here!"

The response was broken, and weak, but that was definitely my sister.

I ran across the length of the field, reaching the base of the tree. "Where are you?!" A fresh splatter of blood landed at my feet as I looked up. Ayame was laying, more like huddled, up against the base of the oak, her legs wrapped tightly around the branch she was sitting on.

My eyes widened. "Ayame," I scaled up the tree-careful not to jar her, "Ayame, what happened to you?"

My sister covered her face with her forearm, annoyed. "I'm fine, Kiame."

I couldn't help but scoff. Oh yeah, she was fine. From the looks of it, it seemed like she had either lost control of her kekkei genkei, or just recently fought with someone. I really hoped it was the latter…"You do realize that you're here on our practice field?"

Ayame opened one of her icy blue eyes, glanced around, and promptly closed it again. "Yes."

"Well then," I prodded, "I suppose you also realize that you've frozen over half of it and destroyed what was left of our big oak tree, right?"

Ayame opened both her eyes now, but refused to move-from the looks of the blood stains on her back, I didn't know if she could. Silently, she glanced around at the damage she had caused, and scowled. "Yeah."

I laughed, tired of her game. "You have some serious explaining to do."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

Gently, I knelt down next to her, pushing her wet bangs from her eyes, "I'm not going to interrogate you for an answer-I know you'll tell me in your own time-but we do need to at least get you home, see how bad your wounds are."

Ayame chuckled dryly. "Fine," She looked up at me. I didn't realize just how tired her eyes were until they were staring back at my own-when was the last time she had slept? "Can you help me up?"

I frowned-if there was one thing my sister didn't do, it was ask for help. "Sure," I wrapped my arms gently around her arm-pits and took the bulk of her weight on my torso. Shakily, Aya pushed her legs up and into a standing position, breathing hard. I paused when she was finally steady-allowing her to get her bearings. "Oh, we are definitely talking about this later."

I stood at the stove, watching over the food I'd just begun frying in the pan; tofu, vegetables, and rice-one of Aya's favorites.

"What're you making?" I glanced back over my shoulder, surprised to see my sister standing in the doorway. It was then that I'd noticed she'd actually managed to get changed into her normal attire; a navy blue, cut-off zip top over a black camisole, with an armless fishnet top underneath-how she managed to get those on, I haven't a clue. Her legs were covered with a pair of black cargo cut-offs, ANBU boots, and matching shin guards.

"I'm guessing the shower helped, then?"

She scoffed as she made her way towards me. It seemed like she had a little more energy than before, but I knew better; her movements were still too confined-too slow. "Considerably." Her eyes looked down at the food. "I thought I smelled something. You didn't need to make that, you know…"

I gave her a smile. "Of course I did, it's one of your favorites."

Ayame gave me a small smile in return, genuine this time. "And you also hate tofu."

"Not that much."

There was a pause, then a speculating look. "You made bacon, didn't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "For your information, no, I did not."

Ayame continued smiling as she slowly made her way back to our dining table. "Alright, Ms. Defensive."

My sister had neglected to mention that she had been hurt when she'd gotten home from her Recon mission-I guess to keep me from worrying (I was able to get her to tell me that much at least), but there were new wounds as well. A cut or two on her left cheek, a slight limp on her left-not to mention the reopening of the gashes she already had across her back; just what had she done last night? "What's with that look?" Ayame asked, putting her bandage wrapped elbows on the table.

I shook my head and turned back to the food, moving it over into two bowls on my right. "Oh…well, you're not wearing your ANBU stuff."

Ayame nodded, "Indeed."

"Why?" I asked, grabbing the bowls and moving towards the table.

She laughed, "Because I'm not on duty today, baka. The Division asked that I take a few days off after my team and I just finished that last assignment, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." She winced as she took the bowl from my outstretched hands-that's it. She's going to the Medic tents later, whether she likes it or not. "Did they tell you to take some time off or were you forced to?"

Ayame looked up at me, calculating her response. "Does it matter?"

I sighed and took the seat opposite of her. "It was because of what happened to your back. You and I both know that's no small accident."

She scooped up some veggies into her mouth. "You know, you're not in your Jonin garb either, Kia."

I glanced down at my clothes and frowned; I was still in my pajamas. "Well, I had to go get my sister this morning; I mean you know how she is with all her running off and such."

-"Really now? Sounds troublesome."

I nodded, "You have no idea. Plus she's mean to me too, always calling me stupid and silly."

Ayame faked a gasp, almost losing her carrot. "I couldn't imagine!"

"Yes," I continued, "It's horrible."

My sister rolled her eyes and stuck a forkful of tofu into her mouth, saving the orange vegetable in the process. "Whatever."

I grinned, swallowing a chopsticks worth of rice, "Now," Ayame already rolled her eyes, "Tell me what happened last night."

She sighed, shooting my statement down immediately.

 

* * *

  
_**Kakashi  
** _

The white-haired copy-nin sighed as he stretched out over his mattress. It was the same dream as always; the beginning would start with the mission where Obito died. Kakashi would be standing there, crying and shocked over his poor crushed teammate, then it would flash to the intense pain in his eye-the stinging and unremarkable pain of his new, bleeding Sharingan. The dream would suddenly shift then-it'd be him, running incredibly fast with lightning infused chakra spitting from his hand-and there would be Rin. Rin, who was a prisoner to the tailed beast, Rin-his teammate and woman he'd sworn to protect, woman both he and Obito cared for-laying lifelessly against Kakashi, his hand impaled deep in her chest.

Gingerly, the white-haired ninja pushed away his nightmare, looking instead to his window. It was still dark outside, but not for much longer. Eastward, the sun was beginning to streak the sky with color-golds and purples filling the horizon with bright rays of an early autumn morning.

Kakashi swept himself from his bed and made towards his kitchen, ready to prepare his morning tea. "How long had you been here, Tenzo?"

The young ANBU didn't seem phased by Kakashi's sensory abilities; rather he simply leapt in from the window, removing his mask as he did so. "Not too long."

Kakashi looked up at his teammate as the hot water began to boil on his stove. Tenzo's brown hair and uniform looked slightly shaken, like he had just been back from a spar-or a run. "What brings you by?"

Tenzo approached his senpai, stopping just as he crossed the threshold to the kitchen. His answer seemed to hesitate, but only a little. "The Hokage and ANBU core have summoned you."

Kakashi removed the kettle from the eye and poured two cups, one green and the other black. "Summoned?"

"Hai," Tenzo took the black tea as his teammates outstretched hand reached him. "It's about an infiltration that happened last night."

"Where?" He asked, looking up from his mug. The warm tea felt nice against his cold fingers.

"Lower black ops sector near the Hokage wall."

The tea was lowered. "Who?"

 

* * *

 

__**Kiame**  
  


I glanced up from my bowl, surprised to see the exhausted look Ayame's face had taken on. Something about it stuck with me, like how it did last night. "Well, you know, I had the weirdest dream…"

Ayame paused mid-bite. "Oh, really," Her whole body tensed as she slowly dropped her food. "What was it about?"

"Well," I closed my eyes, trying to recall the details. Everything felt a little fuzzy this morning-but I definitely remembered both she and the man. "I dreamed that I had one of my phoenix scouts flying over a forest somewhere…and then I saw you and this dark-haired man in a clearing." She paused when she took a sip of water, but played it off as nothing. "I told my scout to fly down over where you two were, and I'm pretty sure you saw it, but before I could say anything to you it was extinguished." I shook my head, "It was weird…it felt like I hadn't seen you in ages."

My sister nodded, taking in the information I'd just told her-but she wouldn't get by that easy. "Now what about you?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I thought we just extinguished the topic of what happened last night."

I shrugged. "Yes, for now, but I'm regarding the dream you had."

"Kia, you have no way of knowing that I-"

"Aya."

There was a long silence between us. Ayame is well aware that I know the signs of her nightmares-I'd been witness to the aftermath of too many to not know by now. She sighed, clearly annoyed. "Well, just how do you know I had a dream, then?"

"Dreams are important windows into the inner workings of our subconscious mind." I stated, sticking my chopsticks in her face. "Our souls are connected, thus I know all th-"

"Alright, I get it." And so the silence returned. I could see the contemplation in her eyes-see the way she was calculating what she'd say. Normally, I'd let the looks go by without a thought, but for some reason…for some reason it felt like she was trying to hide something from me. Granted, it could be paranoia, but…she seemed too hesitant then, too guarded. "You know, I don't know what to do with you imouto-chan." She smiled, but I could tell that she wasn't amused. "Well, anyway…I dreamed that, like you, I was in a forest. I didn't know where, but it didn't really seem like it mattered at the time. At first it was really nice and relaxing, but…wait." Ayame suddenly stood up, her eyes drifting off to our window. She froze there-unblinking-lost in thought again. "…Do you feel that?"

I felt dumb for asking, "What?"

"Those chakra signatures; there's two of them, both are moving from the fields towards us." She answered, "They're…oh great."

It took me a moment, but after she brought them to my attention, I could feel the signatures as well. And just like she said, they were moving towards us-and fast. "Who do you suppose it is?"

Ayame ran out of the kitchen and down the hall to her room, after a moment, she came back with her katanas and ANBU garb. "It's the black ops."

I made a move to go grab my kunai, but her glare stopped me before I'd reached the foyer. "I'll go with you?"

-"No, it's of no concern to you."

"If that's the case," I stepped back-now in front of her, "Then why are you getting all defensive?"

Ayame looked at me for a moment, trying to think of a way to get around the subject, but she finally just sighed, irritated. "Fine." She answered, slipping her vest on-gingerly-over her torso. "I'm about to be called in for an insubordination. You don't need to know the details, but what I did was…"

"Unsavory." I stated.

"Unsavory," She replied. "I have to explain myself before the Hokage and my sector-these two are here to issue a summons and take me to the meeting, more or less."

"Alright," Biting down my anger, I sighed and pointed to my clothes, "Let me get changed and I'll go with you, but you owe me one hell of an explanation later."

"…Alright."

 

* * *

 

_**Ayame  
** _

__

"Okay, what did you do that was so bad?" Kiame asked, joining me on our porch. She had since changed from her pajamas to her normal ninja attire; a dark purple tank-top, khaki cargo shorts, black combat boots with matching bodysuit fishnet, and a pair of arm guard gloves.

I clutched the hilts of my katana's and slipped them into the sheaths on my hips. Kia and I had both decided that strapping them to my back just wouldn't work-not with my wounds still left untreated. "This is no joke, Kiame."

She sighed and positioned a pair of her poison-dipped kunai into her boots. "I know, and I'm being serious when I ask."

I rolled my eyes, "This is just formality. The officers just need assurance that I wasn't going rouge or something-what I did wasn't entirely…bad."

"Sheesh," She laughed, "You ANBU are too…"

"Stuffy?" I grinned.

"Exactly."

 


	3. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I just wanted to update and say thank you to all who have viewed, followed, or reviewed this story. :) It means a lot to have all of this support!
> 
> Thank you again, and Happy New Year!
> 
> ~Aria

.

* * *

 

 

The white-haired shinobi came to a slow walk as he emerged from the tree line, Takeo following close behind him. Both men had sensed the twins emerge from their home, then stop just outside their porch-waiting. Takeo had warned Kakashi of this-that both of them would need to stay on their guard, but Kakashi simply dismissed him. “They will be more likely to fight if you act distant,” He warned the brow-haired man. “I’m sure Ayame already knows that they would be sending people.”

Takeo huffed, “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she will come quietly.”

Kakashi chuckled, “She will, if you watch what you say.”

During their journey, both shinobi had agreed it best to keep their weapons concealed, especially the ANBU-it would do little to put Ayame at ease, but it would at least keep Kiame from suspecting anything. Kakashi held up his hand in greeting to the twins; Kia returned the wave, but Aya stayed still-watching.

“Good morning.” Takeo called, moving up to Kakashi’s side.

“Morning,” Kia grinned. “What brings you two by so early?”

Ayame’s eyes suddenly locked with Kakashi’s-they were cold, calculating his movements-warning him. He’d known her for a while-long before she had really known him. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had only been around thirteen or so when they first met-Ayame herself had to of only been around four or five.

*

_“Hey,” A young Kakashi had stopped along the top of a crumbled building, his head looking down to the streets below. “Do you hear that?”_

_Might Guy landed alongside his rival, looking in the direction of the nearby roads. “What is it?”_

_Kakashi listened for a moment, then it came again-a cry for help, somewhere below. The voice was small, like that of a child’s, but it was hard to make out from this distance. “That.”_

_“Ah,” Guy huffed and jumped down, striking a pose as he landed onto a nearby telephone pole. “Good ears, my young rival! It seems we have a rescue on our hands!”_

_The white-haired ANBU rolled his eyes as he followed suit. The cry continued, though now that they were lower, they could tell it was coming from one of the alleys in the general street block._  
  
Kakashi pushed his headband up onto his forehead, revealing his Sharingan. He scanned the roads, stopping as he spotted the voices origin.. “There,” The ANBU pointed. Two small chakra signatures were huddled into a collapsed path about two houses over from the duo. “They’re trapped along the wall.”

_Guy nodded and leapt across the streets, landing by the source of the alley’s blockade. A grouping of telephone poles and buildings had collapsed against each other, creating a large wall of debris near the entrance to the main road. Kakashi followed suit, but moved to the opposite side of the street. The debris here was a little less accumulated, but it looked far more unstable than the other side._

_“I-Is someone there?” The duo heard the voice call, this time more hesitantly._

_“Yes,” Kakashi called, lowering his headband. “We’re coming over to help you.”_

_Both he and Guy leapt over their respective blockades and landed on inner part of the alley.  Two small girls, no more than four or five, were huddled together against the remnants of a broken crate-each sporting a matching head of brown hair. One of the girls, the one whom he presumed had been calling for help, was holding the others head on her shoulder-keeping her face hid from the view of the shinobi. “We’re lost. C-can you get us to the safe house?” She asked hesitantly._

_Guy grinned, pointing a proud thumb into his chest. “We’d be more than happy to escort the two of you, ladies.” He looked to his rival, “In fact, we were just on our way there, isn’t that right, Kakashi?”_

_The white-haired shinobi nodded, “Are you trying to meet up with your family?”_

_The girl frowned, looking back down at the one resting on her shoulder. She seemed to hesitate before answering. “With our father.”_

_“Ah,” Guy bent down to one knee, “You two are sisters?”_

_“Yes.” She replied, her blue eyes watching him closely._

_Kakashi smiled, her apprehension towards Guy was quite amusing to watch. “Are you two twins?”_

_“Yes.” She replied again, though now her sister seemed to be stirring._

_‘This girl has green eyes,’ Kakashi noted as she looked around at the alley. “What’s going on, Aya..?” The other mumbled._

_‘That’s for identical twins to have two different eye colors. Hmm…I don’t recall of twins at the academy.’ “We are going to help the two of you to the safe houses.” He responded, “Can you both walk?”_

_The blue-eyed girl spoke again, looking down at her sister’s leg. “Kia fell and hurt her ankle when we were running.”_

_Guy grinned-taking note of the little girl’s swollen foot. “I guess she’s not opposed to piggy-back rides though, right?”_

_The other girl, the one called Kia, smiled happily. “Nope, not at all!”_

_The green-clad shinobi moved over and put his back to the girl, allowing her to wrap herself around his back. “What about you?” He asked, looking down at the remaining twin._

_She huffed, “I can walk.”_

*

“Why did they send two of you, Hatake?”

Kakashi blinked, the annoyed eyes of the eldest twin were looking at him-expecting an answer. “Hm,” He cleared his throat, “Formality, I guess.”  
  
“But specifically _you_ two?” Ayame cocked an eyebrow at him, “Didn’t you just get out of the hospital?”

Kiame huffed, interrupting them. “I just finished telling Aya how all of you guys are so stuffy. There’s absolutely no need for you guys to be acting so… _dry_ to one another.” She waved her hands, as if dismissing everyone. “Aya already explained that some of you might be coming by to discuss something with some officer, but all of this doesn’t need to be more formal than it already is.”

Takeo smiled, somewhat surprised that the ANBU had already taken steps to warn her sister. “We apologize, Kia-chan.” The brown-haired man bowed, “We didn’t mean to overstep our bounds.”

Kakashi nodded his head, “Sorry.”

Kiame looked to her sister expectantly, but Ayame just rolled her eyes. “I’m not apologizing to you, baka.”

Her sister rolled her eyes as well, “Then I’m not making breakfast for you anymore.”

Ayame smirked and poked a finger at her arm. “Good, the tofu was soggy anyways.”

Takeo cleared his throat just as Kia began to retort, “Erm…” Both twins looked to him, “Back to the matter at hand…”

“I sure you already guess,” Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, looking to Ayame. “But Nishinoya wants you to report to him, directly.”

Ayame sighed, “Yeah, I figured.”

“Who?” Kiame asked.

“Ayame’s commanding ANBU officer,” Takeo replied, “He and a few others act as supervisors for different departments in the black ops. Each one is supposed to assign missions and act as a medium between the members and the Hokage.”

The green-eyed girl turned to glare at her sister, “Oh really?”

Ayame glared back, “It’s not that big of a deal, Kiame.”

“It sounds like it is,” She retorted. “They don’t trust that you can’t show up there without guards, afterall.”

The ANBU sighed, “Where am I meeting him?”

“The Hokage building.”

 

* * *

 

 

 _Ayame_  


Bright, October sun beat down on us as we made our way into the inner circle of Konoha. The air had warmed a little here, as it usually did on the trip from our clan’s home, but today it felt more pronounced. Busy stalls and tents were set up along either side of the streets, each vending their own particular concoction of goods; anywhere from food, clothes, or jewelry to weapons and sometimes books.  Above us, decorative flags hung in yellows, oranges, or reds-signaling the turn of the Fall season.

Kiame sighed happily as she jogged up beside me. “Isn’t this nice?”

I had to keep myself from sarcasm. “I guess.”

She huffed loudly as Takeo approached the two of us, “Do you not come here often, Kia-chan?”

My sister chuckled as she looked at a few booths to her left. “Aya and I don’t like to get out much-not leisurely, anyway.”

I looked away from my sister, guilt settling in my stomach. Kiame loves walking around places like this, I’m the one who has issues going out in public. Takeo, however, seemed satisfied by her response. “I see.”

Kakashi looked back over his shoulder to us. “Have you visited Shizune-san since you arrived back home, Ayame?”

Kia sent me a quick glare; the way the jonin had asked was answer enough-both he and Kia knew I hadn’t. “No,” I replied, suddenly aware of the path we were travelling. “I guess that’s why we are coming this way, then?”

Kakashi shook his head, dismissing me with a hand. “Not entirely. Takeo wanted to pick up some apple spices from a merchant, it just happened to be convenient trip.”

The brown-haired man smiled as he began rambling about the properties of these apples-how they smelled and tasted. Kiame moved over to his side, nodding excitedly. ‘ _Well,’_ The way she kept nodding to him almost made me laugh. ‘ _She does like to cook more than me.’_  

“Penny for your thoughts?” The white-haired ninja asked, now standing along my right.

I looked up, now realizing Kia and Takeo had moved a good ten paces in front of us-still discussing this ‘magical’ apple. “I’m just going over some things.”

Kakashi nodded, “I would be too if I had to defend myself to Nishinoya and Tsunade.”

“You wouldn’t have to,” I rolled my eyes at him. “You wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.”

He looked down at me, his visible eye squinting into a smile. “True, though I do have some years on you.” The jonin stuck his hands down into his pockets, “I’ve learned my lessons, paid my dues.”

My eyes narrowed. “It’s not that many years, Hatake.”

“Hm, more than you think.” He laughed when I huffed at him. “Though, I do wonder how you managed this one…”

‘ _Wait.’_ I looked up at him. “Did they not already give you the report?”

*

_“You need to tell Nishinoya as well.”_

_I could feel his grip on my arm lessen. “…Fine.”_

_Ruki sighed, looking at me with tired green eyes. “Promise me, Aya.”_

_“I will,” The presence of my final clone disappeared from the woods nearby. ‘Great. I’m running out of time.’ “Tomorrow.”_

_“No,” His grip suddenly returned. “You need to tell them now-what if they try to make a move on you guys? What if they’re already waiting for you?”_

_‘No, what if those squads catch up to us, you idiot-then you’ll see.’ I ripped my arm from his hands, glaring. “So what if they do? It wouldn’t make a difference if they came tonight or tomorrow, I can’t fight them off with my back like it is.” I held up my hand, stopping him before he could argue. “Look. I just found out about this tonight. Unless they are already at our house, which is completely absurd, then I have at least until the morning. This can wait until then.”_

_Ruki stood there, seeming to mull my statement over. His expression fell when he looked back at me, “Aya-“_

_“No.” I reached back into my pouch and handed him the small black book from the archives. “Take this, and give it back to those squads,” I gestured behind me, wincing. “Tell them I’ll give them a report tomorrow-they can even send someone to get me if they want. Either way, I need to get home. Kiame can’t know about this, not until I tell her.”_

_He reached up and took the book, placing it in his vest with a sigh. “And if they don’t listen to me?”_

_“They will.” I answered, “Just reassure them that I’ll report in tomorrow.”_

_Ruki scowled, “You had better show up.”_

_I sighed, moving chakra into the muscles in my back. “I will. Don’t tell anyone about this until I do.”_

_“Okay.”_

*

His eyebrow rose. “No. I was simply told to retrieve you and Kiame?”

‘ _Great.’_ I could feel my stomach beginning to twist and knot. ‘ _Did they not believe what Ruki had told them?”_

“Aya,” Kakashi placed his hand on my arm, “What is it?”

“Hey!” Both of us looked up to see Kiame and Takeo standing at a bright orange stall near the local ramen shop. Kia held up two fists, each gripping a jar of spiced apples. I sighed-silently thankful for my sister’s excited interruption.    
  
“It’s nothing.” I gave Kakashi my best reassuring smile, “Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t protest as I began to walk towards the rest of our party, but I could tell by his expression that he didn’t quite believe me. “Alright,” I called, pointing back to the stall. “Put it down, Kia. We don’t have time.”

My sister suddenly came bounding up to the two of us, breathing excitedly, smiling. “Come on, Aya, just _smell_ them!” I could hear Takeo chuckling from behind her.

“We don’t have time.”

“Well,” My sister huffed, “I guess that’s too bad, I already bought them.”

I sighed and started rubbing the bridge of my nose-attempting to ease my oncoming headache. At least the topic of my infiltration was pushed aside. “How much further until we are there, Kakashi..?”

The jonin gestured ahead, looking at me darkly. “It’s just up here.”

 

* * *

 

  
  
_Kakashi_  
  


“Kon’nichiwa, Shizune-san.”

Both Ayame and myself bowed as the black-haired woman opened the door. I rose, but Aya had stopped just barely below her shoulders, wincing. Shizune made a move to help her, but Ayame blocked her hands- “I can do it.” She stated, attempting to stand again. The motion seemed very labored and stiff-like she _had_ to take her time.

The black-haired kuniochi sighed and sent me a glare. “I’m guessing this is what you’ve come to see me about?”

I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck. _‘Why do women always decide to turn on me?’_ “Yes.”

She gestured to the two of us, “Come in, then.”

Ayame followed after the medic, but for the first time, I realized she was limping. I came through the threshold of the office and shut the door behind me. _‘Since when had she started walking like that…’  
_ I thought back to this morning, the walk into Konoha, through the forest-she had seemed fine then. Her movements may have been stiff, a little slow perhaps, but there hadn’t been any signs of her being this injured.

I moved to the opposite side of the room, leaning against one of Shizune’s unoccupied walls. ‘ _I wonder if this is what she was trying to hide,’_ I thought back to our conversation in the markets, the way she’d paled when I mentioned our mission. ‘ _Ayame, just what have you done to yourself?’_

“ _Oink-Oink!”_ The three of us turned as Ton-ton came running up to Shizune’s feet, a scroll sticking out from her mouth.

The kuniochi bent to read it, gently patting its head. “Thank you, Ton-ton.” She skimmed through its contents, scribbled a few kanji on the lower half of the paper, then handed it back to the pig. “Take this to Lady Tsunade, tell her Aya just got here.”

The small creature nodded and ran up a collection of books by Shizune’s desk. She continued up and out the only window, leaving from a small crack in the frame.

“Alright,” Shizune stood and turned back to Ayame, dusting off her hands. “Let’s take a look at your back.”

Again, limping, Ayame and the medic made their way to a small bed in the corner of Shizune’s office. “You also treat patients in here?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Yes,” Gently, the black-haired woman helped direct Aya to the bed, though I could tell by the look on Ayame’s face that she didn’t enjoy being coddled-despite her pain. “Lady Tsunade is usually the only one I see in here, though. She doesn’t like for others to see her injured.”

I nodded. “Understandable.”

“Alright,” The medic-nin pulled out a small rolling table with an array of instruments and ointments on top. “I need you to stay still for me, Ayame.”

The brown-haired ANBU nodded slowly, turning so her back was now facing the both of us. Bright blue light emanated from Shizune’s hands as she passed over Ayame’s upper and lower torso. The entire process took about ten minutes, but the medic didn’t seem to be satisfied with what she found, “What exactly happened on this mission, Ayame?”

“My division was sent on an intelligence recon,” She responded, flinching as Shizune moved to her ribs. “We were ambushed when we were following up on a lead. I blocked one of the shinobi’s Earth Style jutsu as my squad retreated.”

My left eye twitched. ‘ _That wasn’t the report Takeo gave me, Aya.’_ I crossed my arms over my chest. _‘Why are you lying?’_

“Hmm,” The medic-nin sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her expression hadn’t changed-but I could tell she was thinking hard about something. “I’m going to need you to remove your shirt.”

Ayame’s eyes widened. “W-what?” I

“I can’t treat these wounds like this,” Shizune stated, looking over her back. “They’re too deep for me to heal them this way.”

The ANBU scowled and looked down at her hands, her cheeks slowly turning a deep shade of red. “A-are you sure?”

Shizune chuckled, “I’m positive, Ayame. I can’t tell from this if you need my healing ninjutsu or if I just need to stitch you up. Not to mention if there’s any poison or infection that’s settled in by now.”

A thought suddenly occurred to me. The idea of it almost made me laugh, to be honest. “Is it because I’m here?”

Both women turned to me, but the look on brunettes face made it clear. I smiled. With the rush of the mission and the way she had been acting, I’d almost forgotten about Ayame’s lack of…experience. I’ve known the kuniochi for years, but as far as both I and the rest of her closer comrades knew, she had never been with anyone. When I say anyone, I mean, anyone. Ever. In fact, it was almost a reoccurring joke between her and her sister, from what I could tell.  

Ayame fidgeted with her fingers, her lips turning down into a deep scowl. I felt something in my stomach begin to twist. It was different seeing Ayame acting like this, her face bright and flust—‘ _Stop it._ ’ Everything in my mind suddenly went blank. I fought the urge to slap myself in the face. ‘ _She is your comrade. She trusts you and you use this time to actually start thinking-‘ “_ Ayame,” The sound of my voice surprised me. “I promise I won’t look.”

Shizune turned to glare at me, aware that I was still standing in the room. “Kakashi, if you’re-“

“I’m just saying,” I held up my hands in protest, “Scout’s honor.”

Ayame turned to me then, her face still bright with embarrassment. That same twisting feeling came back to my stomach as she sat there, staring. ‘ _Don’t.’_ I swallowed, trying to move my thoughts towards something else. ‘ _You know what happens…’_ A broken image of Rin suddenly came to mind, the bloodied-scared, version of her from my dreams. ‘ _She is a comrade; she is to be protected-nothing more.’_

“Close your eyes then.” Aya stated, turning back to the wall.

Both Shizune and myself looked up to the kuniochi in surprise. Heat felt like it was building under my mask-like the cloth had suddenly become constricting or hot. Ayame sighed, “Well?”

My hand moved up to my face, complying with her word. It stretched out and covered what was visible of my right eye, “Better?”  

Both women answered in unison. “Yes.”

 

* * *

 

**_Ayame_ **

  
“Alright,” I could feel the coolness of the room seeping into my skin. Deep, painful shivers ran down my spine, my arms and shoulders tried to break into gooseflesh-everything burned, but the cold had no relief. It hadn’t been as much of a problem to get my clothes on this morning, I guess because my wounds had been fresh at that point; but now, having to have those clothes removed, it felt like absolute _hell_. As Shizune had removed each layer I could feel the wounds reopening and tearing, every raw scab being torn away with the layer it clung to. “Are you okay, Ayame?”

I sucked in a breath, trying to keep myself from heaving. My stomach was feeling dangerously vile, I guess because of the pain, but I managed to push it back down long enough to respond. “Y-yeah.”

“Okay,” Shizune’s hands were suddenly moving to my ribcage, grabbing just below my sternum. “I’m going to try to lay you on your stomach now.”

I nodded, trying not to make any sound. ‘ _Was Kakashi still here?’_

“Just try not to jerk, if you can.” Excruciating pain shot from the lower half of my hips and up into the muscles in my shoulders. Slowly, I could feel my spine giving into the support of Shizune’s arms, but the lower I began to fall, the more my back began to scream-or was that me?

“It’s okay,” A deep, deep burning moved into my stomach as plush softness came in contact with the front of my body. Gently, I could feel the cool hands of the black-haired kuniochi leave my ribs, “Focus on breathing now. Slow, if you can.”

“Ayame?

I couldn’t tell if I had already been breathing, or if I was just holding my breath, but the air that entered my lungs now burned. I opened my mouth, gasping in oxygen-my back heaved in pain, keeping rhythm with my ribs. “It’s okay,” I felt a hand rest on my head. “Just think slow.”

“What’s going on?”

I couldn’t confirm from the angle of my head, but by the baritone of the voice, I could tell it was Kakashi. ‘ _So he didn’t leave…’_ “She was holding her breath when I moved her,” Shizune answered. “I’m just waiting for her to stabilize before I start.” 

The clack of shoes on tile suddenly came closer, “I want to see.”

I felt a rush of air enter my throat as I tried to reply, but all that came was a sharp cough. There was a pause, “I don’t think she-“

“I’m not looking at anything else.” The baritone voice answered quickly, “I just want to see what happened.”

Shizune sighed, exasperated. “Kakashi-“

“Please.”

Another pause, longer this time. “Fine then, but I’m watching you, Hatake.”

I still couldn’t see Kakashi’s face, but that same heat from earlier had begun to burn in my cheeks. It shouldn’t embarrass me for Kakashi to look at me, he’s known Kiame and I practically our entire lives. We train together, we battle alongside each other, but…this is different. This isn’t just some wound from a mission-it’s a consequence from a lack of control and reflexes. It’s a result of me not thinking ahead, my squad’s lack of teamwork-something Kakashi actively tried to preach to me.

“Ayame,” The coldness of the copy-nin’s voice surprised me, he was closer than I’d expected. “You need to explain yourself. Now.”

*

_“Aya,” Ruki’s call suddenly broke through the silence. I clicked the radio fastened around my neck, accepting his transfer. “There’s about four or five men stationed to the north of the objective.”_

_“Okay,” I pulled my mask down over my face and signaled to Kenma on my right. She nodded, understanding my command-and pushed her mask up into place. I clicked the button again, “There’s four more here, looks like they’re patrolling the forest. Hikari?”_

_Another buzz of the radio. “Two men just left their camp to go on a run for firewood. That’s all the signatures I have here.”_

_Kenma made a few handsigns as she fell from our perch in the trees. Thick, grey mist began to fill the floor of the forest as she landed in the grass below. I gripped the hilt of my katana and fell down beside her, landing to her left. “Ruki, move in left and flank from the South. Hikari, take out those two and meet with Ruki.” Both my partner and I ducked down in the grass, “Kenma and I will circle around and we will wait on the opposite end.”_

_“Alright,” Ruki called back. “I’m guessing you’ll give a signal when you’re close?”_

_“Yeah.” Kenma nodded to me again and crouched low against the ground. I followed her-moving carefully behind the prints her shoes would leave in the mud._

_“Take my left,” I whispered to her, “I’m going to take them from the treeline.”_

_Kenma nodded again, her bright blonde hair bouncing behind her. “I’ll meet you north of here then.”_

_With this, the two of us separated. I stayed along the ground, moving east as I made my way to the outer region of the enemy’s patrol, while Kenma took to the trees on the further side of the forest. With a click, I unlatched my katana from its sheath and moved it out in front of me, using it as a guide as I made my way into the underbrush._

_Two of the four chakra signatures had deviated from their group, but the hesitation they seemed to travel with bothered me. Neither of the two had any reason to be wary-my team had been more than careful not to leave any signs for them; the pair moved so slowly, though-like they were scanning, searching for something, or someone._

_I ducked down into a grouping of bamboo trees, keeping as low as I could in the fog. Both men slowly came into focus-each sporting their own variation of a camouflaged scarf and head mask. From this distance, I couldn’t quite decipher the symbols on their headbands, but their attire was enough of a giveaway. ‘Looks like our source hadn’t been lying about the Sound ninja.’ I thought. ‘Nice to know they were too afraid to lie.’ I maneuvered my torso through the bamboo on my right, sliding down closer to their roots._

_“Oi, Leaf Ninja,” My heart suddenly plummeted. Every nerve felt like it had knotted into a metal ball in my stomach. There was no way these idiots had already found me-my team had been too careful, too sharp. The shorter of the two men threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “We know you’re here!”_

_I lowered my torso further to the ground, submerging myself as far as I could in the fog. ‘None of them are sensors, and either way my chakra isn’t so large that these two could notice. But what are they doing?’_

_“Come out already! We know you came through here, girl!”_

_“Just show yourself!” The taller of the two had joined chorus with the shorter, “Stop your running and we won’t hurt you!”_

_Both men suddenly turned from their course and began walking left, approaching the trees where Kenma and I had come from. The man closest to me huffed, “God, we know you’re here, you bitch!”_

_‘Wait, they could be tracking Kenma…’ I slid back through the bamboo, moving towards the pair. ‘They didn’t pause when they were near me, so I’m definitely not their target-sensor or not. Even if one of them did happen to be a sensor, Kenma should be completely out of their range by now-so it’s not her either...’_

_“Are you sure you saw her run this way?” The taller of the two asked, clearly annoyed._

_“Yeah, she ran straight by the camp,” The shorter sighed. “Man, Kabuto is going to kill us if we don’t find her. You know how he gets…”_

_I paused behind a tree, taking in a deep breath. The adrenaline and nerves made it difficult, but eventually I was able to quiet both my breathing and chakra to no more than a hum. ‘At least now these two can’t feel me following them,’ I pushed the air from my lungs, breathing in with deliberate speed, ‘Now to move on.’_  
  
I watched my feet as I moved, careful to keep clear of the fallen twigs and roots from the trees above. I doubt the two in front of me could tell, but the jutsu-induced fog was slowly starting to clear from the forest floor. The fading of the mist wasn’t immediate, but the further the pair walked, the thinner it became. ’Damn, Kenma’s moving out of range, and I can’t do this without cover.’ I moved closer to the ground, closing in on the men. ‘All you have now is to just take these two from behind, they’re already too cautious as it is.’

_“Shut up, stupid.” The shorter man suddenly began to stretch. “Ugh, I wish she would have left some tracks or something.”_

_‘Just a little more…’_

_“She’s probably one of the Leaf ANBU or something, you know how they are, Ikaru.”_

_It was now or never.  
I leapt forward, swinging my blade up and through the back of the shorter man’s throat.  He began to chough, apparently choking on what would have been his response. I looked to the second man, jerking my blade from the entry point in the first ones spine. The man called Ikaru coughed again, this time spitting and hissing as gravity pushed him towards the end of my blade, and ultimately the ground. His teammate looked between the two of us, stunned and horrified. I stepped over the body of the first sound-nin, looking up to his taller companion. “I-I…“ He moved back from me, his eyes widening in realization. _

_I swung my katana in front of me, following his retreat. “Who is Kabuto? Who are you pursuing?”_

_He cleared his throat, swallowing. “I-I’m not telling you.”_

_I flashed my blade again, the blood from his teammates throat still dripping from the tip. “I’m not going to ask again.”_

_“I-” The taller man suddenly began looking to either side of him, like he was expecting someone. Great. “I’m not telling.”_

_“Very well.”_

_With a flash of chakra, I pushed myself forward and around to his side. My blade swung, now infused with my wind style nature, and nestled itself somewhere between the man’s hips and lower ribs. He let out a guttural cry, much to my distaste, but it didn’t last long. He fell just like the other-dead and lifeless on the mud of the forest floor. “Interesting that Leaf ANBU have come here...”_

_I turned, just barely dodging a series of senbon as they zoomed by were my scarf had been. A grey-haired man, around my age by the looks of it, was standing where the fallen sound-ninja had first appeared from. Unlike the other two, he wore a high-collared purple tank-top, no mask or scarf. A white tee-shirt stuck out from the sleeves of his shirt, but because of his waist wrap, I couldn’t tell if it was a tunic or a jumpsuit. A matching pair of purple pants and shoes made up his lower half-but no forehead protector. Interesting._

_He pushed his circular glasses up on his nose, smirking. “I see you’ve met Ikaru and Seiko. I hope they gave you a warm welcome?”_

_I retrieved my blade from the ribs of the one this man had labelled as Seiko, and put it up as a shield between this man and myself. “They did, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, they were a little light on information.”_

_“Ah,” He chuckled, “I apologize then. But, you see, you did catch us at rather a bad time.”_

_“Oh?”_

_The man feigned a sigh, shrugging. “Yes, unfortunately. But sometimes that can’t be helped.”_

_‘Something about this guy feels wrong…or…off.’ He pushed his glasses up again, this time taking a few steps towards me-he stopped when I tightened my grip on my katana. “I apologize, then.”_

_“Ah,” He tilted his head to the side, regarding me with a look of haughtiness. “So, you’re an ANBU captain, by the looks of it…” His eyes moved to the red scarf on my neck, “But where’s your team?”_

_I could feel my heart picking up speed, mixing with the preexisting adrenaline and fear. He couldn’t know about the others-at least not all of them. “I’m alone.”_

_The man let out a long, arduous laugh. “I see you have a sense of humor.” His face slowly fell, “Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience for it.”_

_*_

“A-Ayame,” Shizune was the first to break the silence. “What did he look like, again?”

“Grey hair, he had it tied back in a ponytail.” I winced when the medic-nin’s hands touched my shoulder. “I didn’t see a headband, but he wasn’t wearing what the other sound ninja had on. It was some sort of purple tunic and white tee shirt-oh, and glasses.”

Both parties sighed, but it was the copy-nin who spoke. “…You’re lucky that you’re alive right now, Aya.”

I tried to turn my head to Kakashi, but that same cold hand from my shoulder moved up to my neck, clapping down just below my hairline. “Please try not to move so much. You’re poisoned.”

“What do you mean, Hatake?” Shizune’s hands stopped me again, harder this time.

“That was Kabuto.” Kakashi answered. The tone of his voice was low, angry. “He’s Orochimaru’s right-hand man. He’s a Rouge-ninja and spy from the Leaf village who was trained in the Root division since he was a child. He left the organization before I started in the black ops, but he’s still a pretty well-known shinobi in the ANBU.”

Realization suddenly hit me. Kabuto’s profile had been in the Bingo-book, it hadn’t been in the registered S-Class, but I know his name had been mentioned in Orochimaru’s file. ‘ ** _Kabuto, high ranking  Konohagurke operative specializing in reconnaissance and medical-style ninjutsu. Wanted for homicide, conspiracy, and espionage. Kill on sight._** _’_  

“Ayame, did he say anything else to you? Hit you anywhere?” Shizune asked, her hands loosening from my neck.

“He knocked me out when we were fighting, so I’m not for sure.” I stated, “I know he hit me with some ninjutsu, chakra scalpel I think he called it, and a few senbon.”

The medic-nin sighed. “Well, from the looks of it, I can probably treat most of these wounds with ninjutsu.” Her fingers brushed away my hair, “The poison I can extract first, but some of these look…odd.”

“Odd?”

“Yeah,” She traced the outline of what felt like a large tear in my shoulder. “It looks like Kabuto must have been either low on chakra or in a hurry.”

“What do you mean?” Kakashi asked, his voice sounded closer.

“I mean all of these lesions are more or less open lacerations instead of his normal, precise incisions.” The cold hands moved from my hips to my hair, tracing the skin, “The edges of her wounds are very wide and deep, like his chakra was fluctuating or he just couldn’t focus on the jutsu. The wounds I’d had from our fight were smaller, more refined-even though we were battling for some time.” She sighed, “From what I understood of the chakra scalpel, the attacks are supposed to be more of an internal strike, something to target the opponent’s muscles or chakra.”

I could hear the clink of bottles and metal, “Did Kabuto say anything about why he was there, Ayame?”

Shizune beat me to the response. “No. We can discuss theories later, Kakashi. Right now, our first priority is treating this poison.”

I grinned at the thought of the copy-nin’s stunned expression. Shizune was many things, but when it came to those she was treating, she could be quite…edgy.

“Alright.” The medic-nin sighed again, “This may sting, Aya, but just try to stay still for me.”

I nodded.  
A slow, burning ache began to surface near my shoulders, then move south down my torso. The feeling didn’t quite hurt like I’d expected, but it was just enough of a throb to keep me from relaxing into the bed like my body oh so desperately wanted me to. “Shizune, did you ever train with Kabuto?” Kakashi’s voice again, this time a little more reserved.

“Yeah,” The aching continued, but the burn was becoming less and less noticeable. As Shizune moved closer to my hips, I could see the glow of a pale green light emanating from her hands-ninjutsu. “He trained in the medic academy for a while, but left the village before he moved up in rank. He had only been there for a few months, if I remember.”

An amusing thought suddenly came to me. “Was he an asshole back then, too?”

The black-haired medic chuckled. “Not quite.”

“Well,” I tried to look back to her. “If it makes you feel any better, I think I broke his nose.” 

 

* * *

 

 

Itachi watched as his blue-toned teammate disappeared into the forest. Together, their travels had put them a few hours out from Konohagurke’s border; not quite where they should be, considering their mission, but good enough to allow them time to rest.

The black-haired man let out a sigh as he leaned back against the base of an old elm tree. He and Kisame had decided it best to set up camp before they reached the next town, especially since their presence could alert the new patrols roaming the Leaf village’s boundaries. Itachi activated his Sharingan, giving the forest one final scan. Kisame was the nearest human, be it you could really call him that-any others were at least half a day’s hike from their camp.

The eyes of the Uchiha dulled, returning to their original dark onyx. He looked up, watching the sky with faint disgust. Just what was it that the Akatsuki wanted with these girls? Pain had stated that their new objective was the jinchuriki hosts-they don’t need recruits, nor does the Akatsuki take prisoners or experiments-so why? Itachi rubbed the bridge of his nose, slowly massaging the area between his eyes and tear troughs. A low, throbbing headache began to build behind his temples and neck-he sighed, his Sharingan were at their limits.

“Oi, Itachi,” The man named so turned, watching as Kisame emerged from the trees, a set of dead rabbits hanging from his hand. “You’re taking first watch.”

The Uchiha stood, passing him. “Don’t burn them this time.”

 

 


	4. Costs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been awhile, but with how hectic school has been this semester, I've only really had time to write every once awhile (being a double major really takes a lot of your time...haha). WITH THAT SAID and without any further adieu, I bring you chapter four! 
> 
> Thank you to all who have been reading!

**Chapter 4: Costs**  

**_Kakashi_ **

****

Shizune sighed, leaning back in her stool. It’d taken her around two hours of constant healing ninjutsu and stitching, but Ayame’s back was finally looking like it had been pieced back together. Before, she had had about 5 large lesions stretching the length of her torso in long, jagged layers; her legs hadn’t been any better, as far as that goes, but those injuries were mostly internal. Now, all that remained of the injury were two long lines of stiches sealed in gauze, a few dark bruises, and three fresh scars under her shoulders. “That’s the best I can do for now.” She stated, looking back down at her work.

   
Ayame turned her head, hesitating to move. “How is it?”

   
The medic shrugged, “So long as you don’t do anything really strenuous, it should heal just fine.”

 _  
_ “In other words,” I crossed my arms over my chest, knowing exactly what the brunette was planning. “No missions.”

   
Ayame glared back at me, frowning. “We’ll see what the officers have to say.”

   
I shrugged, “And I suppose you think they will just let you back into the field after an injury like this? Not to mention your meeting we still need to go to?”

   
The ANBU huffed. When she wanted to be, Ayame could be resiliently stubborn. “I just need to explain myself.”

   
I rolled my eyes. “If you believe they will be that forgiving, then fine, but I’d say the word of Shizune and myself will keep you from missions, let alone what Kiame would have to say.”

   
The mattress creaked as Shizune reached over to grab the brunette’s shirts. “Arguing over who’s right or wrong won’t solve anything,” She mumbled, laying the clothing by the bedside.

   
Ayame sent me a glare and as promised, I shut my eyes and laid a hand over my mask-completely concealing my face. “We aren’t arguing,” She stated between shuffles of clothing, “Kakashi simply thinks he can use my sister to win every argument with me, but he forgets I’m not a child anymore.”

   
Another of the darker, more hazardous thoughts crossed my mind, but I pushed it aside-opting for humor instead. “And Ayame forgets who was there for some of her…more embarrassing training sessions” I shrugged, “But, I mean, no one is keeping score, right?”

   
“Riiiiiight,” There was a moment of silence before the shuffling of clothes continued. “Just like how _Kakashi_ forgets who might know where he keeps his ‘ _Icha Icha’_ collection... _”_

 _  
_ My heart dropped as she chuckled.

   
“But, then again, no one is keeping score, right _senpai_?”

 

* * *

 

**_Kiame_ **

****

I sighed, kicking a group of pebbles by my boots. “Are you sure we can’t go check on them?”

   
Takeo smiled, patting me on the shoulder. “Sorry, Kia-san, but it’s for the best if we wait.”

   
I sighed again. My patience isn’t made of stone, nor water, but it’s usually solid enough to withstand most-until it comes to Ayame. “Oh, come on…”

   
The brunette ANBU chuckled, “They’ve not been gone too long, you know, maybe an hour…or less.”

   
“It’s been _two_ hours,” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

   
Takeo cleared his throat nervously. “W-well…”

   
“I know Aya’s back is bad, but they shouldn’t be taking that long.”

   
The brunette was silent for a few minutes, at first I thought he’d given up and was simply allowing me to stew in my impatience, until he turned back to me with that same, weird smile. “Kia, have you ever had any major injuries?”

   
I glared back at him, unsure of where this sudden twist in conversation was heading. “Yeah, when I was little?” The image of a younger me suddenly came to mind. I was limping over to our father, my sister following close behind. Her small, six-year old head was bent in respect, eyes and face looking low and to the ground.

 

*

 

 _“Keep off your foot, Kia, or you’ll make it worse!”_ _A worried hand suddenly tightened its grip on my ribs, hauling my weight over to my left rather than right. “God, you’re a baka sometimes…”_

 _  
_ _I snuffed my nose at my sister, suddenly aware that tears had been falling from my eyes. “N-no I’m not.”_

 _  
_ _“Yes you are,” Ayame sent me a grin. “You wouldn’t be hurt if you would have listened to me.”_

 _  
_ _“You’re too bossy,” I stated, sniffing again. “You never want me to have fun.”_

 _  
_ _My sister sent me a glare, “No, I want you to, but you should know better than to try to pull off a move like that. You just started at the academy a month ago, remember?”_

 _  
_ _“So what,” I leaned my head over on her shoulder. “If Ishimura-sensei can do it, so can I.”_

 _  
_ _Ayame rolled her eyes. “You’re not a jonin yet, Kia.”_

 

*

 

But our father didn’t care about logistics.  
Kiyoshi didn’t see that Aya had practically carried me home, or that she was the one who told me not to do it, despite my protests-all he cared about was that I had been hurt, and my sister had been present for it. I looked down at my ankle, a dull ache suddenly filling me. Aya had been beaten for that accident-silently, when everyone in our small clan had went to sleep-even though we had all known it had been my mistake. I remembered waking up that night, running to my father and sister pleading, crying-I was too naïve to know that he would never listen to me, I still thought of him as a loved one-but that was the flaw with my childhood. His stubbornness and lack of compassion was his vice, and I was too ignorant to see that-Ayame knew, and she tried on more than one occasion to stop me from making matters worse-but I was a child. I didn’t realize what was wrong until he and others had died among the clan-I didn’t know what we had been missing during our lives until Ayame and I were on our own.

I cleared my throat, pushing away the thought of the past. Over our years together, Aya and I had agreed that our childhood was one thing we didn’t like to dwell into-be it the subject could be avoided. “I had to have surgery on my foot,” Takeo suddenly nodded, thoughtful though I had spaced out from our conversation. “I’d gotten carried away after a presentation our sensei gave at the academy and attempted to do it myself. Ayame had told me not to, but I didn’t listen, of course…”  
  
  
He smiled at that. “As I tried to land the move, I turned my foot under me and broke the bones in my ankle and heel.” I stuck my right boot out to him. “I have 3 pins and 2 rods connecting my ligaments and bones back together. It’s fine now, but that was the only major injury I’ve ever had…” A pause- _is that it?_ “I think.”

   
Takeo stayed silent. At first I thought he was disgusted with the story, or with my company, but after a few minutes it just seemed like he was…confused? “I’m…I’m sorry for that, Kia.”

   
“It was my mistake,” I had to hold back a laugh, “Why in the world are you sorry?”

   
The brunette ANBU looked up, thoughtful. “I suppose I’m sorry for your situation.” He looked to me suddenly, waving his hands. “Erm, I mean…I know the therapy for your injury had to be grueling, you know…Not to mention still going to train and study at the academy. So… I guess for that, I apologize.”

   
“It’s fine,” I waved him off, “It’s better it happened when I was young anyway, I learned to work around it.”

   
Takeo cleared his throat, but nodded. “Well…my point with asking you about all of this was to refer to Ayame.”

   
I nodded, “I thought so.”

   
He chuckled. “Yeah. You know, Shizune _is_ one of the best healing shinobi our village has to offer…I guarantee that she is going to try her hardest to make sure Ayame feels as good as new,” His smile returned, “If anything, you should be worried about how you’re going to keep her from running around after she’s healed.”

   
I returned Takeo’s smile, suddenly aware that both Kakashi and my sister still hadn’t returned. “True.”

   
“Well…” The ANBU rubbed the back of his neck, almost sighing. “I guess they have been gone awhile…”

   
“It’s agreed then,” I stood, jumping towards the emergency admittance doors-ready to go and retrieve our party-when two very familiar faces came walking out from that same entrance. I let go immediately, running straight to the other side of the stairs threshold. Ayame gave me a weird look as she exited, but I couldn’t help the grin that I had spread across my face when I noticed there was no limp-or wince-when she stepped down onto the dirt path. “Hey!”

   
“Hi,” Her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”

   
I pointed over to Takeo, who was now whispering to Kakashi, and frowned. “You left us out here, remember? You were gone for like…two hours.”

   
“Oh,” Ayame looked back up to the building, to Kakashi, then finally back to me. “Sorry, I didn’t know it’d take that long.”

   
“It’s fine,” I waved her off. She’d hear my complaints later-personally, I was just happy she wasn’t limping anymore. “What did Shizune say?”

   
The two men before us suddenly began to walk back down the path we had travelled on earlier, motioning for us to follow once they had gained a lead. Both were still huddled closely together mumbling about something of seeming importance, but with the lack of proximity and lip-reading abilities I had, I couldn’t quite make out their conversation. “Hmmm,” Ayame was staring in the direction of the pair as well, “She used ninjutsu on what she could, but once she started sealing everything up, she noticed there was a poison that had made it into some of the surface wounds,” She pointed, “Mostly near my legs and shoulders.”

  
I nodded, angry that I hadn’t seen it sooner. Ayame waved her hand, almost chuckling. “You wouldn’t have noticed the poison anyway, so don’t worry about it. Shizune barely could and she could only do what she could do just because she has some medicinal background.”

   
I shrugged her off.

“It was my carelessness that caused this situation anyway. My intel never mentioned anything about coated weaponry in the Sound, so I didn’t account for that among my team.” She shrugged. “From what I knew, Otogakure was too poor to afford such luxury among all their ground units-obviously, that wasn’t the case, but I should have had my team prepare for it regardless.”

   
“I’d heard they’ve been struggling since Orochimaru returned,” The two of us fell into synchronized step as we continued to follow the pair of ANBU ahead. “Did she manage to remove all of it?”

   
Ayame chuckled, “I figured you’d ask that, poison master.”

   
I smiled. “Rightly so.”

   
“Shizune said she removed most of what seemed lethal.” I nodded, “She assured me that anything that had already made it into my system would only act as a muscle relaxant. From the pattern of the attack, that part of the poison was supposed to suppress my nerves and make me immobile, but she sterilized what had already started to take effect. Hence my limp this morning.”

   
“Hmm, so they had planned on trying to apprehend you,” I mumbled, “Be it you would have escaped from them.”

   
She paused, but still nodded, “Long story short, yeah.”

   
“Well, what’s the prognosis of the cuts and bruises?”

   
-“She mended the worst with what chakra she had left and stitched everything else.”

   
“That’s good to hear,” Kakashi and Takeo suddenly separated, but continued to keep their lead in front of us. “At least you’ll be back on missions and stuff soon.”

   
My sister smiled. The move reminded me of chipped stone, or maybe metal. “Depending on this hearing.”

   
_‘Shit…I’d almost forgotten that she still needed to meet with Nishinoya, let alone Tsunade as well.’_ I smiled back to her. She may not have told me the severity of her trial, but at least I could try to keep her calm. “Maybe it won’t go as badly as you think?”

   
Ayame looked to me, but didn’t reply.

 

 

* * *

 

  

**_Kakashi_ **

****

The air stiffened as our party continued to ascend the staircase. Ayame had been purposefully keeping her distance since we left the hospital, I guess as a reaction to guarding her sister-or just being angry with me-one or the other. I had never been informed on all the details her nightly endeavor had included, Takeo had been thoughtful enough to leave that out of my mission briefing, but from the sounds of the orders and from word of the ANBU reports, it didn’t seem like this meeting would be in her favor.

   
I sighed as the last few floors came into view. I guess Takeo and I were to blame, somewhat-our efforts should have been better used to distract those two and keep her calm rather than leave her to stew in her thoughts-Kiame’s company didn’t seem to help either, though that had been a long-shot. “Hatake Kakashi, I presume?”

   
A young, sandy-haired ANBU stood at the platform ending the last of the stairs, katana and scroll occupying his hands. “And party.”

   
He nodded, looking back to the brunette at the end of our group. “The others can wait here.”

   
Ayame nodded and continued up to the man’s side, pausing just as she reached the last step. 

 

* * *

 

 

**_Ayame_ **

****

I never did like standing in the center of a room-it always feels too open, too exposed-like you’re about to be attacked, or you’re preparing to die. “Alright, Ayame,” Nishinoya had been the only one to address me so far-both the Hokage, Ruki, and adjoining ANBU were being uncharacteristically quiet _. “_ You understand why you’re here, correct?”

   
Nishinoya’s hair seemed quite wild today-it would have matched his beard be it the upper part of his head didn’t contain that fading salt and pepper color. I swallowed the hardness in my throat, trying my best to sound more authoritative than I felt. “Hai.”

   
The older man’s charcoal eyes narrowed, “And you know why you’re being charged as you are, I presume?”

   
Ruki shifted on his feet. I paused, contemplating whether the argument would be worth the injury, but decided against it-I didn’t need to tie my own noose. “…Hai.”

   
Nishinoya leaned back in his chair, the old wood creaking loudly against the weight of his back. “Ruki returned the book you stole from the archives, therefore you met with him before apprehension this morning, correct?”

   
“Hai.” Ruki nodded as well.

   
“Was this of plan or was this of no particular…coincidence?”

   
“Happenstance.” I replied, “He intercepted me when I made it to the forest by my home.”

   
“Ruki,” The sandy-haired man beside me shifted again, all eyes in the room now turning to watch. Mentally I cursed myself-a few extra steps of precaution could have negated this situation, a few more minutes of preparation and Ruki could be on his mission and I could be at home with Kiame, and everything would be just as it was. “Relay what was stated during this interception.”

   
The eerie silence dragged on as Ruki locked eyes with our supervisor. Knots began to twist in my stomach-if they compared accounts to his story and found any holes, I wouldn’t be the only one being held in investigation…It would be any, and all, I’ve had contact with-including my teammates-including Ruki.

  
“Nishinoya,” The blonde haired Hokage rounded on the elder ANBU, her bright brown eyes blazing with contempt. Ruki had opened his mouth to respond, but quickly shut it after Tsunade’s hand raised, cutting him off. “Both Ayame and the others in this room can speak for themselves. If you don’t stop treating this meeting like a jury, I will dismiss you.” The brown eyes flashed to us, then back to the angry charcoal, but I was too shocked to care. “I believe that both shinobi have clear reasoning behind their actions-as leaders it is our duty to hear them, then judge based on the information they provide. If you feel like you can’t handle this meeting like a supervisor, you can leave and I’ll send summons for you later, do I make myself clear?”

   
Nishinoya didn’t reply, but the look of absolute venom he turned to both Ruki and myself spoke for itself. “Hai, Lady Tsunade…”

   
“Good,” The blonde-haired woman let out a long stretch, yawn, then rounded her eyes back to me. “Your mission report then, Ayame.”

   
Both Ruki and myself looked at her in stunned admiration-it wasn’t every day that you got to hear the Hokage silence your superior. “H-hai, Lady Tsunade.”

   
As instructed, I began my commentary somewhere around the dream from that night (there would be no point in hiding it now), and it ended around the infiltration and rendezvous with Ruki. I left out some of the intricacies of the fight I’d had near my home-for fear of getting others in trouble-and managed to add in some details about our meeting this morning and my appointment with Shizune. Ruki had chimed in, and agreed, with my version of the story-at a few points even adding in some of his own dialogue with other ANBU and officers-but for the most part he remained in the background. Both Tsunade and Nishinoya remained silent during the entirety as well, which further added to the discomfort around the room, but at least I hadn’t been apprehended for espionage or treason…yet.

   
“Nishinoya,” The Hokage heaved a sigh, eyeing me over with a look somewhere between tiredness and curiosity. Subconsciously I could feel myself trying to straighten, but the stiches in my back wouldn’t quite allow as much give as I’d wanted. “You may leave.”

   
The silence in the room suddenly shattered.  The tall, greying man stood in his chair, glaring to the Hokage with a look of utter contempt. I held my breath, looking to each of the surrounding ANBU with the same look of apprehension and worry. A few of the guard near the Hokage had reached for their weapons, crouching like they’d jump to her side, but Nishinoya had stopped moving once he’d realized this. Our supervisor may be a hateful man, but he wouldn’t dare start a fight with the Hokage-no one would. “I-I’m their commanding officer! I’m no-”

   
“You forget your place.” She declared, glaring back with twice the venom. “I don’t need you in here swaying this conversation-ANBU are under my command as well, _remember_?”

   
Nishinoya huffed wildly, slamming the chair he’d been sitting in back up again the Hokage’s table. A few loose papers and scrolls rolled and swayed from the surface, scattering around to the floor just in front of my feet. His dark, black eyes scanned those in the room, seething and furious, until they finally met with mine. That same knot that had building in my stomach suddenly dropped, almost making me wretch, but I managed to hold my stance as he began to move towards me. “You utter piece of filth, I’ll have yo-”

   
“I thought I told you to _leave.”_ Tsunade looked past me and pointed to the door. Her voice had lost its formality and kindness, now it was malicious and full of strong authority. “Do you also need an escort?”

   
The tension in the room seemed to be bubbling over now, like someone was just waiting for someone to do something wrong-namely me, or Nishinoya. To my surprise, our ANBU leader stayed quiet as he moved out from the table. He walked past both the surrounding shinobi and Ruki without so much as a glance, but as he moved by me, his shoulder jutted forward and struck mine with so much force I nearly fell over. I bit my tongue and glared at the ground, trying not to scream as a sudden wave of pain pulsated through my arms and legs. I’d wager to guess that that little outburst had ripped at least two sets of Shizune’s stiches free-all for what, to act like a child with a superiority complex. Holding my breath, I glanced back behind me-trying to make sure he had gone-when my eyes locked with Nishinoya’s. He smirked as he inspected my face, almost laughing, and bowed as the door swung shut in front of him.

   
I inhaled deeply, refocusing my energy on trying to steady myself. Exhaling, I managed to straighten into my most convincing stance, but Tsunade’s gaze followed every movement. When we locked eyes, I could tell that she already knew to what extent my injuries were, but she didn’t make any mention of it. With a drawn out sigh, she leaned back into her chair and pushed aside a few papers. “So is that all, Ayame?”

   
“Hai,” I bowed my head respectfully. “That was why I did what I did, M’lady. Ruki returned the book back to its original place not long after.”

   
She seemed to contemplate this. “And Uchiha Itachi?”

   
“I only learned what I did of him after reading his entry. There’s been no other contact since then.”

   
Tsunade looked to Ruki.

   
“There hasn’t been any disturbances near the border either.” He replied. “No one in the Land of Fire has sent word of anyone with he or Hoshigaki Kisame’s description, but we also sent hawks to the Sand Village to make sure. A few patrols have been sent out to place a secondary seal on the one preexisting.”

   
“It’s settled then,” The blonde-haired Hokage stood and walked around to the front of her desk, sitting near its edge. “I have some paperwork and such to take care of, especially in regards to this,” She eyed me, “But altogether, this incident will be _forgotten_ about, am I clear?”

   
Ruki and I nodded in unison.  
  
  
“ _However_ ,” Tsunade made a motion towards one of the ANBU. I didn’t recognize him, but he left almost immediately, a puff of smoke now residing where he had stood. “I think it can be agreed that it will be better for both you and for the Leaf Village, Ayame, if there is someone keeping an eye both you and your sister.” I felt the corners of my mouth twitch-if there was one thing I hated most, it was being put under house arrest-I don’t like being taken care of, and I don’t like being watched, I had enough of that with my father. “This won’t be permanent, Ayame, but I believe it best that someone be with you, especially after the events in our past Chunin exams-wouldn’t you agree?”

   
Begrudgingly, I nodded. Tsunade may be new to the position of Hokage, but she isn’t a force to contend with-her word is her word, especially to those in the ANBU. “…Hai, m’lady.”

   
Another puff of smoke appeared in the corner as the ANBU suddenly reappeared, a familiar grey-haired shinobi now in tow. “You wanted to see me, M’lady?” Kakashi strode forward, stopping just to my right.

   
Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ayame can fill you in on the details later, Hatake, but both she and Kiame are your new mission. You’re to stay with them at all times and report to me, directly, be it something happens-got it?”

   
Kakashi looked down to me, grinning, but nodded all the same. “Understood.” 

 

* * *

 

The tall, ginger-haired man let out a sigh as he moved out into the afternoon rain. Soft thrums bounced from the fabric of his dark cloak, but the shade slowly began to darken once the moisture soaked through. Ahead, the sky was painted in gentle shades of navy and purple, but to the horizon a murkier, more menacing group of clouds loomed in wait. He reached up to his cloak, pulling the collar up over the lower half of his heavily pierced face. “You’ll catch cold out here,” The man inclined his head, the bright blue hair of his partner suddenly moving up to his right. “At least move under the umbrella.”

   
Pain looked up, a small paper parasol now hanging just above their heads. The rain seemed to have already soaked through it, but the water didn’t drip down until it had trickled down the length of its semi-circle surface. “Did you take care of the objectives?”

   
The woman nodded, pulling her cloak closed. “Yes, Pain-sama.”

   
“Good,” The man began walking forward, his pale lavender eyes staring ahead to the road. “We can discuss the details with _him_ when we reach Ame. For now, send word for the others to meet in Kumogakure. We will be expecting company.”

   
“Yes, Pain-sama.”

****

* * *

 

**_Kiame_ **

 

“Let’s go, Kia.” Ayame’s hand gripped mine with such force I thought she’d break my wrist. I tripped down the stairs alongside her, trying my best to keep up, but for someone who was injured she could still move pretty damn fast.  
  
  
“You could ease up a little, baka...”  
  
  
“I don’t know where you think you’re going to go, Ayame,” Kakashi called, looking up from his book, “But you’re still not in any condition to run.”  
  
  
“I don’t need a babysitter, Hatake.” She called, descending yet another staircase. I tripped and fumbled along on her right, but that didn’t seem to be halting her progress to the bottom floor.

   
The white-haired jonin rolled his eyes. “You think you can handle this yourself, but there’s more to it than that.”

“I don’t care!” Ayame snapped, pulling me down the last of the stairs we rounded-again.  
  
  
“You’re going to break my arm, you know?!” I glared after her, “We aren’t in that big of a hurry!”

   
My sister continued walking, mumbling to herself as she did so.

   
“The Akatsuki are not an organization to take lightly, Ayame,” Kakashi skipped down the stairs behind us, still not looking up from his book, “You of all people should know this by now.”

   
My sister stopped, spinning on her heel to glare back at the jonin with such anger and force, even I was a little surprised. Kakashi looked up calmly, stopping just a few inches before my sister’s face. “Are you trying to challenge me?”

   
I rolled my eyes, “He’s just trying to keep an eye on you-hey!“ Ayame fingers tightened their grip on my wrist until I could no longer feel the blood flowing to my hand, “Will you fucking _quit_ that?!”

“Is that a _challenge,_ Hatake?”

   
Kakashi’s dark, calculating right eye looked the two of us over, then closed in a polite, but condescending, smile. “No, I was simply under the impression that we both know when we are outmatched-obviously not.”  
  
  
My sister beamed, leaning back from the proximity she had created between herself and the Sharingan user. “ _Obviously,_ I believe some of us do.”

   
With a jerk, I ripped my arm free of Ayame’s hand and put my palms out to both of them, thankful to finally have some blood flowing back into my fingers. “You two stop being ridiculous.” Both shinobi didn’t flinch, nor give me any acknowledgement that they had heard my request-they just stood there, glaring at one another in awkward, stiff silence. With a huff, I settled for just standing between the two of them-at least with me here it would keep Ayame from trying to throw a punch or something.

   
Kakashi chuckled, “Your wounds have opened up, have they not?”

   
My sister eyed the two of us carefully, “What of it?”

   
“I suggest we pay Shizune a visit before we depart, see if she can’t reseal some of those stiches on your back.” The Sharingan user shrugged, placing his book back in his back pocket. I nodded in agreement-if they had reopened, they needed to be sanitized and covered again to prevent any further infections. “Unless you’d rather me send for her to come to the Azikuria compound later this evening? It’s up to you, really-I have plenty of time.”

   
I had to hold back from the high-five I wanted to give Kakashi-at least one of us was trying to talk some sense into her.

   
“Stop trying to back me into a corner, Hatake.” Ayame crossed her arms over her chest, “If I needed to see a medic then I would go myself, you don’t make those decisions for me.”  
  
  
The Sharingan users eye narrowed, “I make decisions for those who are incapable of doing it for themselves.” Kakashi took a step forward and with a flash, he was standing behind Ayame, kunai held poised just above her right shoulder. I closed my mouth and lowered my left arm, ‘ _Since when could that old man move that fast?’_  
  
  
Ayame continued glaring ahead, “I can-“  
  
  
“You think you’re a match for the Akatsuki, but be it I wanted to, I could kill you right now.” Kakashi turned the blade and rested the tip just below the base of my sister’s neck. “You think you can be the protector for both you and your sister, but your lack of perception and coordination is what got you these injuries to begin with. You want to preach to me about how you’re able to handle yourself, yet you can’t even be responsible enough to watch out for your own safety-let alone Kiame’s.” The jonin dropped his arm and pointed down the staircase, “Now, I’ll say it again-would you rather walk to Shizune yourself, or do I need to take you?”  


* * *

 

“Ruki,”

   
The sandy-haired ANBU stopped just as his hand grazed the door to the Hokage’s office. “Yes, Lady Tsunade?”

   
“Did your team ever file a report for the latest recon with the Sound?”

   
Ruki turned, surprised. “That was supposed to be Ayame’s job?”

   
The blonde-haired woman leaned forward in her chair, her eyes darkening in thought. “Did she file one to Nishinoya, then?”

   
The ANBU’s eyebrows scrunched together. As far as he’d known, Ayame said she would take care of their paperwork-he never liked doing any of that stuff and she was more thorough with it anyway. It was unlikely she would have reported it to Nishinoya, even with their current circumstances, and he doubted she would have filed it to him before presenting their situation to the other officers anyway. Well, the team had just gotten home about a day ago, so the likelihood of Aya getting their notes and files together that quickly was just unlikely, even for her. “Not that I’m aware, M’lady.”

   
Tsunade closed her eyes. “Alright.”

   
Ruki looked back to the door-if Ayame hadn’t given her report yet, did that mean she was waving their insubordinations, all in favor of the intel they have? Did that mean that Ayame’s name had been cleared? “Ruki,” The ANBU looked back to the Hokage, grimacing. “One last thing.”

   
He nodded, “Yes, Lady Tsunade?”

“Send word for Jirayia,” The Hokage grabbed a scroll on her desk and scribbled a series of kanji over it’s surface, “I need to speak with him.”

  
Ruki strode forward and took the now wrapped scroll from the blonde’s hands. “Is there anything else, M’lady?”

   
“That’s all.”

 

* * *

 

**_Ayame_ **

****

I opened one eye, taking care to make sure-be it Kia were still awake-she couldn’t quite notice any of my movements. If I know my sister, like I _know_ I do, she would keep true to Shizune’s word and watch over me until our sentence from the Hokage would pass. When no response came from Kiame, my eye opened again-this time a little wider than before. I continued this slow, monotonous process again and again, waiting for my sister’s voice to carry through the darkness-but she never spoke.

   
Deciding it would be best to just go ahead and try my luck, I opened both eyes, observing my room for the first time since this morning. At the foot of my bed, I could just make out the shape of Kiame’s slumped body leaned against the area between my reading chair and dresser. ‘ _I bet the rain just lulled her to sleep.’_ I thought smugly, sliding my blankets down from my chest.  
  
  
Outside, the quiet patter of rain had begun thrumming against the sides of the house, tinning along the windows in a soothing, natural rhythm. I looked up to the sky now threatening in the distance, it hadn’t looked like it would rain earlier, but it would do some good for the colors on the trees. I stretched quietly, taking in the feel of my arms and back pulling against each other. I couldn’t quite tell what time it was, there wasn’t much light coming in through my windows, but the shades of grey and blue that had colored my furniture made my path to the door visible enough.

  
With much more slowness that necessary, I pushed my blankets from my body and slid my torso into a sitting position. The pain from earlier had almost completely subsided, I suppose because of the medicine Shizune had given me, but there was still a whirling sensation that would come when I tried to move too fast or sit too straight. I exhaled slowly, swinging by legs over the side of the bed. Kiame stirred slightly, but after a moment or two she just sighed, rolled her head on its side, and fell right back asleep. Holding back a laugh, I continued my way off the bed and made for the door, grabbing my over-shirt as I went.

   
I had just begun to make it through the threshold of my room, thinking I was home free, wh- “Is there something you’re looking for, Ayame?”

   
With a gasp, I pushed myself back into the entrance of my room and landed-gracelessly-in a tangled heap on the ground. The thrumming in my heart was so loud I could barely manage to get in a breath, “What the hell, Kakashi!?”

   
His silver hair poked around the corner, “What?”

   
I glanced back over my shoulder, checking to make sure I didn’t wake Kiame, and sure enough, there she laid-snoring and twitching in blissful sleep. Gently I exhaled and touched my chest, “That was uncalled for.”  
  
  
“I was just wondering if there was something I could help you find,” The jonin removed himself from the darkness of our hallway corridor and shut his book, “You were being a little suspicious with all the… _sneaking_ and such.”

   
“That’s none of your business.” I stood and joined him in the hallway, quietly sliding the door shut.

   
Kakashi leaned his head over to inspect the door, then turned his attention on the double-sleeve jacket I had in my hands, eye narrowing. “Going somewhere?”

   
With a huff, I turned and began walking down the path to our kitchen. “Nowhere that concerns you.”

   
The jonin walked after me, “Kiame would be pretty upset with me be it you ran off.”

   
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I shook out the navy-blue over-shirt and pulled it over my head, immediately comforted by its nice, plush warmth. “I’m just going for a jog.”

   
Kakashi’s visible eyebrow raised, “In the rain? With your back?”  
 

“Shizune healed everything that could possibly reopen,” I shrugged, zipping the collar up to my chin. “The medicine is wearing off too, and I’d like to run to clear my head, before you or Kiame make me take another.”

   
The jonin sighed, dropping his arms in defeat. “I don’t mind the jog…but in this weather…”

   
“You don’t need to come.” I stepped up to the threshold leading to our patio and slipped my feet down into a pair of open-toed sandals. “I can take care of myself.”

   
“We discussed this earlier, Ayame,” Kakashi stepped forward, brushing past me as he stepped out of the door and into the foggy, afternoon rain. “I plan on keeping an eye on you.”

   
I grinned and followed him, comforted by the way the rain had begun to stick to my face and hair. “If you can keep up with me, _old man.”_

  
The headband covering his left eye raised in unison to his eyebrow, “You think you can outrun me?”  
  
  
I reached my arms over my head then stretched them down to my knees, “I think I could when I was younger,” A slight pop came as my wrists extended over my calves, “I don’t think much has changed.”

   
Kakashi ran a hand through his spiky grey hair, sighing again. “If I remember correctly, you just got lucky.”

  

*

_“You’re never going to outrun me if you can’t learn to dodge through brush like that, Ayame!”_

  
_With a huff, I came to another screeching halt; small, nine-year old legs can only get you so far in vines and roots more than half your size. “I’m trying!” I yelled back, pulling myself over and down into the next set of roots._  
  
  
“Let’s go,” Kakashi jumped down onto the trunk of the tree, landing just a few feet up from where I was trying to climb.  


_“I **am.”** I snapped, pushing my hair from my eyes.  
_

_Kakashi chuckled as I began to slide back down the tree. “Are you starting to get tired?”_

_  
_ _“N-no!” I let out another huff as I hauled myself up and over the arch of the root. My nails were stinging from blisters and scratches, but that was not going to slow me down. “I can do it!”_

  
“It seems like you’re starting to slow down, Aya,” Kakashi jumped down to the area where I’d land, extending his hand out to me, “Let’s call it a night. I have a mission tomorrow anyway.”  
  
  
I could feel the water building at the corners of my eyes, but I did my best to hold them back. “No.”

 _  
_ _“It’s okay, you know?” Kakashi was still standing below me, “There’s nothing wrong with being tired.”_

 _  
_ _I glared down at his arm, “I said I’m fine, sensei!”_

 _  
_ _“Aya,” The ANBU sighed and jumped up to the arch where I was still seated. The outstretched hand from before reached over and wrapped around underneath my bicep, hoisting me up from the root. “A good shinobi not only needs endurance, but they also need to know their limits. It’s fine to quit sometimes, you just make more goals for yourself to get past your failures, understand?"_

 _  
A sudden thought occurred to me;_ ‘ _if you couldn’t outrun your opponent, then the only thing left would be for you to trick them, right?’ I looked at my sensei’s outstretched hand, ‘Kakashi isn’t like some of the people I’d face, he would probably figure it out in an instant… but it’s worth a try. I mean, A shinobi must also be apt in stealth, as sensei once said.’_

 _  
_ “ _Hai,” I nodded enthusiastically and shook his hand, trying my best to suppress my smile._

 _  
_ _“Alright,” Kakashi stretched, “Let’s get going then.”_

 _  
_ _I nodded again, beginning to follow as he leapt down into the tree’s base, when I pretended to feign a look of absolute surprise and fear. “W-what’s that over there, Kakashi-senpai?!” With a jolt, I pushed myself off the tree and over Kakashi’s head into the next set of roots. I could feel him glaring after me, but I had already committed to this at this point._

_  
With every bit of my strength, I kicked off the dirt at the base of each vine and slid over them, launching myself off the trunk of each just before I’d land. Bushes and briars caught my face and clothes as I ran by, but after the first few the sting had stopped bothering me._

_  
Huffing, I continued pushing through until the afternoon light at the edge of the forest was just starting to shine through into the foliage ahead. I glanced behind me a few times, looking for a sign of Kakashi to be chasing me, but from as far as I could see he must have either taken a different route from myself, or got left behind._

_  
“Almost!” Grinning from ear to ear, I shoved aside the last of the vines and shrubbery blocking my path, and with an ungraceful dive, I pushed out of the tree line and landed with a thud in the grass field ahead._

_  
_ _Gingerly, I rolled myself around until my face was looking up at the sky. The cool spring breeze was blowing through the field, moving and swaying through the grasses and wheat. My lungs and legs burned horribly, but at least the air was helping to cool my sweaty face._

 _  
_ _“You must think you’re oh so cleaver,” I rolled my head to my side, looking up at the annoyed face of my teacher._

 _  
__My grin widened between huffs of breath, “M-Maybe.”_  
  
  
The tall, ANBU-clad jonin sighed and sat down alongside me, “I’ll give you an A for effort on this one.”

 

*

 

I grinned, “You know, if I remember correctly, you were reading almost the entire time.”

   
Kakashi rolled his eyes and started jogging, “...That has nothing to do with this.”

   
With a grin, I followed him, keeping pace along his left. “You just want to avoid the question.”

   
The ANBU shrugged, “You just want to keep digging up dirt on your teacher to make him look bad.”

   
“No, _never_.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPEFULLY another chapter will be in the works soon, but until then, thanks for reading ~ !


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